The Battle Hymn and Waltz
by Scripturiens
Summary: As the Digital World is mysteriously rearranged, the DigiDestined are once more called upon to help. But in a decaying new world, conquering evil is no longer enough to win the war. [Mimato x Taiora]
1. Vibrant Lights

**Author's** **Note: **Though I initially intended to write a Mimato romance, the story grew into an adventure fic far removed from its original conception. Still, that Mimi and Yamato have some protagonism is to be expected for this is, after all, what sparked the story to life.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Digimon.

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><p>With a sudden movement, Tachikawa Mimi opened her eyes. She sat up in bed, a hand rubbing the back of her neck absently as she turned to look at her bedside table, where a digital clock flashed 3:17AM in brightly mocking pink letters. Mimi hung her head down, sighing. <em>This is unbelievable,<em> she thought tiredly, it was the sixth night in a row she kept waking up abruptly around this time of the morning, and it was really starting to mess up her sleeping pattern in general. She yawned, scrambling out of bed and shuffling out her room to fetch a glass of water at the kitchen.

The water felt cool, and it settled down the slightly anxious feeling that was bothering her in the pit of her stomach since she got out of bed. Mimi paced silently towards the living room, sitting on a low couch and hugging her knees to her chest with one arm, whilst she sipped her water. She hadn't bothered to turn on the lights, but she didn't need to. New York City had been dubbed _´the city that never sleeps´_ and it didn't take her long to realise why. Even at this hour, the city was vibrant with life; the skyscrapers tall and lit, and giant billboards flashed in tourists' and locals' faces every day, all day. Mimi loved New York, loved its sounds, and colours and the people. The flashing lights reminded her of Tokyo, and it made her smile for a bit to think of her home. She got up and walked towards the window, drawing one silken curtain back. There were no billboards flashing in her face – not here, not in Upper Manhattan, where her family lived. There were other lights though; buildings and hotels, and office towers and apartment complexes, and the sky was permanently lit somehow, so that you could never really see the stars, because there was so much light pollution in the night sky.

The skies were different in Odaiba. She remembered when she was ten years old, at summer camp. She had been looking forward to the stargazing nights, her father had bought her a small telescope even, so that she could look at them a little better when she was up there. But that summer had not been what she or her parents had expected, had it? Mimi smiled again, and this time it was more mischievous, livelier. Her fingers dropped from the window, leaving finger marks that she knew her mother would freak about in the morning. Without thinking much of it, she walked back to her room, flipping on a small pink lamp on her desk. She sat down unceremoniously, placing her glass on the wooden surface and opening drawer after drawer, looking for – _ah, there it was._

Mimi took out a photograph album and flipped it open. It was her little secret, that album. It was full with pictures, all Mimi's favourites. Her best friends at school, some family moments that she was fond of, vacations that she had enjoyed; but there were other pictures too, much more special than any of these things, and those were the ones that had prompted her to look for the album at all. She took one picture out of the page, fingering it delicately as a smile made its way towards her lips. Eight children looked back at her, smiling, and in front of them, around them, in their arms and on their hats were their Digimon friends. Mimi could see herself there, that characteristic pink cowgirl hat and the leafy green and pink Digimon that she was hugging so tenderly. That had been the summer she had first visited the Digital World, and met some of the most important people in her life.

That had been what, nine years ago now? Mimi pursed her lips as she flipped through some other pictures, eyes scanning each face as memories touched her briefly. Brown, unruly hair and a carefree attitude – Taichi was always smiling broadly in every picture. Well, _almost _every picture. There were those where Takenouchi and him were arguing, or fighting, or trying to ignore each other while everyone else looked apologetic, or annoyed, or amused. Jyou, always pushing his glasses up his nose, a knowing smile and a slightly guarded look about him. How _was_ he doing these days? she wondered. Koushiro, often distracted by technology or such curiosities; Takeru, running around with Patamon on his head or else, looking tenderly at little Hikari, who had grown up to be such a lovely young girl, or Ishida, looking coolly at the group, or sitting placidly with Gabumon, smiling at their antics, or at her, sometimes, even …

She closed the book, her gaze lingering for a while, almost as if she could still see the pictures. Of course she missed them, she had moved to and from America twice during that time, making it really taxing to keep in touch with her friends. They all did, of course. Mimi visited often, they visited sometimes, and then there had been their many adventures in the Digi World, where they met again and fought alongside each other to save their worlds time and time again. But that had been a while ago, and things were different now. Life was busier, and they had all turned their attention more to what was happening in _this_ world. It wasn't a bad thing either, the Digi World had been at peace for a few years now and the DigiDestined were allowed, finally, to catch a well-deserved break.

Mimi yawned, finished the rest of her water in two deep gulps, and sat back in bed, figuring she could try to catch a few more hours of sleep if she could. She had a long day ahead of her, and she absolutely _refused_ to go about it with dark bags under her eyes. It was only after a few minutes after she closed her eyes that she fell into a deep and profound sleep, too deep to realise that inside another drawer, her digivice was lighting up for the first time in almost two years.

-x-

Mimi woke up feeling rather peculiar that Saturday morning. She yawned as she got out of bed, checking her reflection in the mirror and groaning. "My God, I look terrible," she muttered to herself, barely avoiding a collision against the bathroom door. Mr. and Mrs. Tachikawa were not home, nor would they be for a few more weeks. They had taken off about a week before, insisting that it was time they had some family vacations. Mimi was to join them, _after_ her school break started, which meant that on Monday, she'd be free as a bird and on her way to some well-deserved vacations at the Maldives. Humming to herself, Mimi emerged from the shower, a lush pink bathrobe wrapped around her body as she towel-dried her long cinnamon tresses.

Upon re-entering her room, she noticed her phone buzzing on the bed and retrieved it to check her messages. "That's odd," she murmured, "17 new messages?" Another rattling sound distracted her, however, and she looked around her room for the source of the noise. She checked under the bed, in her closet, on her desk until – _there it was again_ – what _was_ that sound? Finally, Mimi opened her drawer and there, under some papers, was her old Digivice. She pressed a few buttons, but the thing wouldn't beep or buzz. It seemed to be, well, _normal._ She didn't know what made her take it out, but after a moment she just couldn't put it back inside the drawer. She went back to her closet and chose her outfit, which consisted of a pink blouse (no surprises there) and tall shorts that had some sort of tribal print, of vibrant blues and greens and oranges. Mimi looked at her phone while she searched for the rest of her things – wallet, a note tablet, camera (she never left it now) and tossed it all in a brown hobo bag that reminded her of that girl with the cowgirl outfit.

_Koushiro: Mimi, have you noticed anything strange about your Digivice? Let me know, it is of utmost importance._

Mimi looked at the limp Digivice, frowning. Miyako had sent a similar message, and suddenly she had an inkling that the rest of the messages would also be similar. But she was late! She didn't have time to confirm these things, Mimi had to turn in a very important assignment in about an hour, and here she was, wasting precious time! She tossed everything in her bag – Digivice included, grabbed a hold of a rather warm and expensive looking kimono-type of wrap to throw over her clothes and some closed toes, pretty and comfortable flats on her hands. After another minute's consideration she opened her jewellery box and took out her old tag and crest, surprised for a moment that she had forgotten it for so long. Mimi left the apartment in a hurry, pushing large shades on her nose and an oversized hat as she walked under the warm New York sun. She rushed to a bakery on the way to her university, stopping to get a bagel and some coffee (she had certainly gone very Western these past few weeks) and was just taking a sip of coffee when her phone rang.

"Mimi here, konnichiwa!" she sang.

"_Hi, Mimi? I'm so glad to hear you."_ the voice said. Mimi smiled widely.

"Wallace, it's so nice to hear from you too! How are you?" Willis' face came to view in her mind's eye, and she remembered the young man so fondly. Terribly nice (and cute!), Wallace had been one of the first Digidestined that they had met in America. She didn't need to remember the specifics of _that_ particular story, though.

"_I'm fine Mimi, thank you. Listen, I got a message from several of the guys – something funny's going on with our Digivices, I thought I'd call in to check."_

"Hai," she nodded, "I got several messages telling me the same thing. I haven't noticed anything strange so far, but I'll definitely keep an eye open for anything," she assured him, looking warily at her bag and wondering if she should start worrying about it. Normally, she wouldn't, but the fact that so many of her friends had called and seemed to be tense somehow made her a little nervous.

"_Yeah, thanks. Good luck, and let me – or anyone else know, ok?"_

_Click_.

Looking at the time, Mimi coarsely swallowed her breakfast and coffee, and made a run towards her destination.

It was only half an hour later, when she had delivered her paper and was free, finally, that she took the chance to leisurely walk around campus and then remembered the strange messages she had been receiving. Mimi frowned, deciding that she'd better check what was going on with her friends in Japan. It was around 1AM there, she knew, but there was a chance someone might be up and maybe she'd get some answers. She made a turn back towards one of the libraries, happy to find the computer room deserted. Mimi took a seat on the furthest corner and started the computer, taking out her Digivice and turning it between her fingers.

Nope, still nothing new.

Her phone rang again, and Mimi picked it up.

"_Mimi, thank God you picked up. I need to tell you -"_

She recognised Taichi's voice and squealed happily. "Taichi! It's so good – " but what was so good, Mimi never had a chance to say because it was then that her Digivice started glowing eerily, a bright green colour that was blending with the blue that shone much too brightly from the PC in front of her. For a moment she swore she could see Palmon on the screen, but then everything went bright and Mimi could see nothing.

She opened her eyes just in time to see herself crashing against the grassy floor. "Oww…" she complained, looking around as she adjusted her bag, looking down at her Digivice, which had gone back to its normal state.

"What on Earth am I doing in the Digiworld?"

Mimi looked around, the familiar surroundings slowly coming back to her. She hadn't been to the Digiworld in a long time; real-life becoming much more demanding as she grew up. But because she hadn't tried to come, she hadn't realised that so many weird things seemed to be happening in here. Her surroundings were familiar but strange, and there was an eerie silence and stillness in the air that made the back of her neck prickle uncomfortably.

"Hello?" she called out, her hands around her mouth to magnify her voice. "Is there anyone here?"

"Mimi? Is that you?"

"Palmon? _Palmon!_ It's _me!_ Where are you?" Mimi called again, frantically turning this way and that until she saw her running her way, pink flower bobbing happily up and down as she drew closer. Mimi ran to meet her, throwing herself into her arms and hugging her Digimon partner so tightly, she thought the little plant Digimon almost died.

"Oh, Palmon, I am _so_ happy to see you," Mimi whined, "I don't even know how I got here!"

"Mimi!" Palmon looked worried, "I saw you appear on the screen a while ago, I've been waiting around but you didn't seem to notice." She looked at the TV receiver that had served as Mimi's portal, but the thing was smoking, clearly broken. "It's been so long, too."

"I know that," Mimi replied, standing up and letting go of her partner, "I didn't intend to come here just now, I was just going to talk to Koushiro…" she touched her finger to her chin. "This is so strange, Palmon. Taichi-kun had just called me, too. I guess … maybe he's here as well."

"Then we should find him! Maybe the others are here as well!"

Mimi smiled wryly, her hands rising to adjust her much-too stylish hat. "Maybe, yes." But she had a feeling that even if they found them, things were about to take a turn for the worse.


	2. Back to Basics

**AN:** The first few chapters are going to move a bit slowly I reckon, but I'll pick the pace up considerably after the next one, I promise. To any readers: I'd love to know your opinion, if you have one.

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><p>Mimi found a large dried log and sat down for a moment while Palmon went nearby to fetch them some fruit. She was looking at her Digivice, and holding an unresponsive cellphone on the other hand. Mimi sighed, putting her phone away. Technology had a way of working <em>funny<em> here in the Digiworld. She knew that if Koushiro was here, he could make it work. Hell, he could've turned her cellphone into an infrared adapter and turned the whole Digiworld upside down … or something of the like. Mimi had never really understood the miracles Izzy worked on his computer and gadgets. She looked at the skies, the orange and pinks that told her that the sun would set soon. "We need to find the others," she muttered to herself, not wanting to think what would happen if there were no others. There had to be, she was sure of it.

_Kind of_ sure of it.

The more honest truth here was that Mimi was a little scared. She had been here countless times, she told herself. She knew this place, knew her way around it, had Digimon friends in every corner of the map but … Mimi had never been so alone. The first time, she had six other Digidestined with her. Then, years later, there was Miyako, and Daisuke, and Cody – Ken, Willis and Michael, and so many other nameless, faceless children that only briefly registered in Mimi's mind. But this time, as far as she could tell, she and Palmon were alone. She closed her eyes, trying not to let that thought sink in. She wished Tai was here. Or Yamato. Mimi smiled. She wouldn't complain _too_ much if Ishida was here.

"Mimi, I brought food," Palmon said happily, and Mimi smiled at her as she took her pick of the armful of fruit Palmon had brought for them.

"Thank you, Palmon," she said, taking a bite of a pink, heart-shaped sort of peach. It was sweet, and juicy, and Mimi was grateful for the meal they could have. She stuffed a few other pieces inside her bag and then looked at Palmon. "We should get moving soon. There's still some light, and I'd like to go a bit further in case …" she trailed off, taking another bite.

Palmon was looking at her friend curiously, acutely aware that her dear Mimi had changed much. She wasn't crying, for one. She wasn't being loud, or vain (although she thought that hat was a bit too fabulous for an adventure), and she was keeping a level head. Palmon had missed her terribly these past few months, but she knew Mimi was really busy and often, she had grown bored in the real world. So she had been here for a few weeks, waiting for Mimi to have some spare time and they would all take some vacations. Things were different now, though. There were strange winds blowing in the Digiworld, and Palmon was sure that there were darker days ahead of them.

"We need to find somewhere to rest," she agreed, "And look for everyone in the morning."

They had been walking for a while now, and Mimi was starting to complain about not finding a suitable spot to sleep. Then she heard the first beep. Mimi looked at her Digivice, which was clipped to her bag. Two red dots were blinking on the map, and Mimi and Palmon exchanged looks of hope. _They were here, somewhere!_ They started walking towards the point indicated in the map until there was barely any light left and they knew it was time to stop.

"Mimi lookout!" Palmon warned her, hurrying to protect Mimi as a shadow approached them but then –

"Mimi? Mimi is that you? And Palmon! Oh, it _is_ you!"

Mimi thought she could recognise that voice and both she and Palmon ran towards him, opening her arms to hug the young blonde who had been speaking to her. Takeru was taller, of course, and very handsome at his seventeen years. Mimi had trouble believing it, but he had grown almost a full head since she had seen him during last year's visit to Japan.

"Takeru!" she smiled, dropping her hat as she let go of him. TK smiled widely, bending over to pick it up for her.

"Thank heavens you're here Mimi," he said, smiling tenderly at Palmon, "We were beginning to think we were the only ones." His voice grew a little serious. "We haven't been able to find anyone else in hours."

"We?" she asked, "Who is we?"

"Oh, you'll see," he said, suddenly a little embarrassed. "We made camp close by, I was just checking out the space because I thought I'd heard something." He took her hand and Mimi hurried behind him, clutching her bag while Palmon ran happily with them.

"Is Patamon with you?" she asked, and TK nodded.

"He was asleep. Too tired, we've been looking all day for you guys."

Mimi looked as if she wanted to ask, but Takeru had not let go of her hand and he just shook his head.

"We're just there, in that clearing? Can you see the light?"

There was a fire going on, Mimi knew at once. It was a good thing, because it meant they'd have a warm refuge, at least for the night. Once they arrived, it was a good thing Takeru had been holding Mimi's hand, because she felt she might just faint.

"Tachikawa-san?"

The young man who looked at her was the person she least expected, but her stomach did a funny little flip as she admitted to herself just how happy she was to see him. Blonde, painfully handsome with deep blue eyes and a face that could make a woman cry, Yamato Ishida looked refreshingly surprised. She blinked. "Ya-Ishida?" she murmured, letting go of Takeru and closing in for a hug. It was short, clipped, a little tense. Nothing at all like what she expected, but she tried not to show her disappointment.

She looked at the other person there, who was just smiling at her quietly, as though she didn't want to intrude. "Hikari-chan!" she smiled, going to her knees and hugging Taichi's younger sister, squealing like a pair of _girls_. She didn't want to think about the fact that Kari had just sat there, looking at her and Yamato, or about the slight blush that was creeping up her cheeks. Patamon woke, and Gatomon came closer and Mimi felt happier at once, as though this made up for the hours she had spent alone with Palmon. There were more hugs, more questions – Mimi shared her fruit and they gave her water they had fetched from a stream. They had arrived at the same time, most likely; they didn't really know.

Mimi listened closely as they told her that they had met, quite by accident, at an electronics store near Yamato's university. Things had been strange for a few days so they were all carrying their Digivices with them, but they never thought that the portals would just _open_ like that. Garurumon had separated from the group to look for any other Digidestined – they had all agreed it would do well not to slow him down. Despite their search, Mimi had been the first person they encountered yet.

"Of all the people, I was hoping we wouldn't run into you," Yamato said quietly, staring at the fire with his arms crossed over his chest. Mimi raised one cold eyebrow, feeling the colour rise to her cheeks once more.

"What the hell is _that_ supposed to mean?" she snapped angrily – almost too indignantly, placing one hand on her hip. "I'll have you know I'm perfectly capable of helping – you don't –_ I'm not dead weight, you know!"_ Her attitude barely seemed to register with him, and he looked up as if surprised that she was now glaring at him, and yelling of all things.

"What – ?"

"He didn't mean it like that," Takeru said quickly, and Yamato seemed to understand, but he only rolled his eyes and let out a dry chuckle.

"Stop glaring at me," he told her simply, "I just meant that if _you're_ here, it means this affected us everywhere, not just Japan." He looked at her with his own raised eyebrow. "I was hoping very much that it was one small glitch, but now..."

"We were really surprised to see you," Hikari hurried to say, "But I'm so glad we did, Mimi. I've missed you a lot."

Mimi felt ridiculous, and her face felt hotter now.

"Oh." She shuffled awkwardly in her place, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "I thought … I didn't mean – ah, _sorry._"

Matt didn't really seem to mind. "That's fine," he muttered absently, standing quite suddenly. "I'm going for a walk, I can't sleep just now."

Takeru seemed to be worried, and Mimi couldn't blame him. They knew next to nothing and couldn't afford to have members of the team running off on their own and getting themselves in trouble. Somehow, though, she didn't think Yamato would do that.

"You shouldn't go alone, brother. Garurumon hasn't returned yet and – "

"Don't worry," Yamato said, stuffing his hands inside his pockets, "If I'm in trouble, I'll scream."

Takeru's smile was a little forced, but he sat back down without a word. Hikari was quiet, lying down on the ground against her own bag and looking at the skies. Mimi felt awkward still, unsure why it Yamato's words had bothered her so much. She thought that maybe she was still a little insecure about herself, but maybe it was more than that. If Mimi was honest with herself (and she nearly always was), she had been hurt because she remembered how earlier she had felt that Yamato's presence would be so welcome to her, and thinking he'd be annoyed by hers was just insulting. Still, she felt a little embarrassed by her outburst. It was one of the things she had been working on, controlling her temper. Clearly, it was still an issue. Mimi sighed, announcing quite unnecessarily that she needed to freshen up. Takeru was sitting next to Hikari on the floor, and they were contemplating the stars without giving much thought to Mimi at all. Their Digimon were asleep, and Mimi smiled as she walked towards the sounds of the stream, figuring she really could use a cooldown.

She hadn't known he'd be there, but when he looked up and saw her, it was too late to go back. "Ishida-san," she acknowledged formally, "You scared me."

But he had already looked away from her.

"Sorry," he said absently, and Mimi chewed on her lip, not knowing what to say. The atmosphere felt charged somehow, tense.

Truth be told, it was usually like that between them.

_She could remember that time at the desert, only a few days after they arrived at the DigiWorld and Server for the first time. The battle against Etemon had taken every ounce of their strength, and Taichi and Agumon, who had then been able to evolve to Metalgreymon, had been sucked in by a rip in the dimensions, and lost to them. Mimi remembered, because the following days had been the most terrible they had yet. They had wandered the desert looking for them, and they had been worried sick until one day, Sora and Biyomon just left them, too. Then Koushiro and Tentomon, and Jyou and Gomamon had followed until finally, it had been just her, Yamato and Takeru._

_Yamato had been so worried about Takeru and her, and she knew it. Every day they looked for them all day. And every night, she wanted to cry when they did not find them._

_"You don't think …" she started, tentatively. She was kneeling in front of the fire, poking it with a stick to make sure the flames remained kindled. When she looked up, Yamato was looking past her. "It's been so long … I'm afraid –"_

_"Don't be. He's out there; we just need to keep looking for him."_

_Mimi looked down again, biting her lip. She hadn't meant to say it like that, he had to know she didn't. Takeru was asleep, with Tokemon tucked tenderly under his arms._

_"I just can't stand not knowing …" and then the tears had come, and she could not stop them. Yamato was looking at her, but his look was hard and Mimi didn't know what to do, didn't know how to stop – she knew he didn't like it when she cried, he was always barking at her to quit it, but this time – this time …_

_"Stop crying already," he said quietly, "I can't be babysitting you as well."_

_She raised her honey eyes at him, but he was just a blur, Yamato, just golden hair and green shirt and she had to blink her tears away, swallow another sob. "You don't – you don't have to!" she cried, standing as quietly as she could and leaving him alone near the fireplace. She wanted to get away, she truly did, but Palmon was asleep and Mimi knew they'd get lost if she stalked off with her right then and there. But she refused to look back at Yamato, and she only lied down with her back to him, sobbing quietly when she thought he might not hear her anymore._

Mimi frowned, unsure why she was remembering that right now. They weren't those children anymore, hadn't been for a long time. Yet he made her feel like that sometimes, like a little child who would cry at nothing. It made her angry enough that she _did_ want to cry.

"What do you think is happening?"

Her question caught him off guard, and Yamato shook his head. "I really don't know," he said quietly.

He didn't intend to walk away, not really. But Yamato felt restless, and he started walking again before he even noticed she had been crouching at the edge of the stream, washing her face. But quite suddenly she was walking next to him, and he only had the decency not to jump, but look at her out of the corner of his eye. Tachikawa Mimi had been but a child of ten when he first met her (he neglected to think that he was only eleven at the time), and though this young woman beside him had clearly and obviously grown much since then, she still looked like that same little girl. Yamato sighed, looking up as they walked out of the trees and to the edge of the woods, where Garurumon had disappeared to.

"So, how's America?" he asked her, so suddenly that Mimi jumped a little, hesitating at the sound of his voice.

"Oh, it's been … you know, busy." Her answer sounded far more cryptic than she intended, and she laughed a little. "I know it sounds ridiculous, to say that I've been busy, but I really have been. Between school and internships, and trying to figure out well, _everything_, I barely have any time for myself." Mimi looked up, a small smile playing on her lips while Yamato gave her a cool and polite look. She turned to him. "I haven't even been here in months, you know."

He nodded.

"I thought as much," he offered, hitching his chin towards her clothes, "That's a bit too dressy for life-threatening adventures, don't you think?"

Mimi laughed a little, feeling a little embarrassed. "And you didn't even see my hat."

"Ah, there's a hat," he said, "Naturally."

"What about you? How's the band going?" she smiled, and then, because it couldn't hurt to ask – "How's the love life?"

Her questions were simple, easy to answer. But then she asked about his love life, of all things, and he didn't know why the hell she would do that. Tachikawa, he thought, was always a bit too blunt for his taste.

"I've been good," he replied quietly. "Busy with school, busy with the band … it's actually gotten more demanding than I anticipated." He looked thoughtful for a moment. "We're being scouted for contracts. Actual contracts." He hadn't told this to anyone yet, and he didn't think much of telling it to Mimi. She had her quirks but she was easy to talk to if you worked past those things. And because she lived so far away from them, she wasn't privy to many things the others were. Telling her things wasn't the same, it just didn't have the same effect. And Yamato kind of liked that.

"I guess that's good," Mimi said with a smile, "A rockstar," she murmured, "Wouldn't that be something?" She decided not to ask anything else, knowing he had purposefully staved off answering her question. It didn't really matter to her, she thought afterwards, she really was just trying to make conversation, that was it. Mimi yawned, thinking it was time to go back to camp before they were missed.

"You shouldn't stay up so long," she told him before turning away, "He'll be back, don't worry."

Matt nodded curtly, listening to her walking away from him. She supposed it was obvious he was thinking about Garurumon, but that wasn't all. He was wondering when they would find the others, what was going on here that they had been brought so suddenly and … and … he was also thinking about Sora.


	3. Lost and Found

**AN:** Chapters are going to get progressively longer from now on, because I'm trying to build up some momentum. That said, I am still working on the whole 'adventure' aspect of the story, which is why I need you to be a _little_ patient; I promise it's going to get more fast-paced in a bit. Please feel free to drop by and leave a review, I would love to hear your opinions on the story!

To the guest reviewer who asked why is it always Sora: to be honest, I figured in the state he was, he could use someone taking care of him. She was the most logical choice.

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><p>The young man was panting hard, clutching his sides. He'd been running for what felt like hours, but he knew that it couldn't be more than a few minutes. Beside him, an orange dinosaur-looking creature was also panting, his large blue eyes closed tightly as he fought to catch his breath. The sun was beating hard on both of them, the ground below releasing hot vapour, his vision being obscured by the abrasive heat around him and the dull ache of his muscles. Yagami Taichi raised his head, wiping the sweat from his brow. With his hands on his knees, he looked at his partner just as he collapsed on the dirt before them.<p>

"Agumon!" Taichi panted, reaching forward to give the Digimon a hand. "Geddup. Come on."

"I'm _tired_, Tai. I can't go on running anymore."

Tai knew this was true. They had been on the run for two days now, and they had had next to nothing to eat in that time. He tried to stop himself from falling, he really did, but before he knew it he too had fallen, face-first into the hot, arid ground before him. He lost consciousness, and was unaware of the two figures that approached him running, but he thought he heard someone call his name.

"_Taichi! Tai!"_

His eyes closed, and he knew nothing more.

When he opened his eyes again, Tai was lying on a bed of soft straw, his every muscle aching wildly at the slightest movement. He felt so weak, and this comfort was such a luxury that he didn't want to look around and find himself trapped somewhere, bound or gagged and soon made into _digipulp_ by vicious Digimon. But then he remembered his friend, and sat up quite suddenly, head spinning painfully.

"Agumon?" he called stupidly, "AGUMON!"

"Tai, relax! Taichi, he's _here,_ calm – calm down NOW!" A pair of hands forced him back into a sitting position, and he tried to fight them but he was so weak – and then he recognised the voice, and the hands, and there was no way he could mistake her short red hair and kind eyes. Despite himself, Tai found that he was extremely happy to see her, unaware until now of how worried he had been that they hadn't run into anyone else before.

"Sora?" he asked incredulously. "Sora, what – where – how?"

Takenouchi Sora shook her head gently, a little sadly. "I don't know Tai," she told him, "I came around two days ago, and you've been the first person I found." She held up her Digivice at him. "It had been beeping non-stop."

Tai looked around, finally aware that they were in a small cave, away from the deserted, hot weather of where he had found himself with Agumon. His dinosaur-like friend was stuffing his face in food – fruits, nuts and berries that Biyomon and Sora had foraged for and brought to their camp. Tai was tended to by Sora, who brought him food as well, and copious amounts of water. He felt that there was no amount of water that could quench his burning thirst. The first few drops had been heaven, the rest had slowly restored his ability to speak, and move and simply _exist_.

"Eat," she chided gently, "You need to gather your strength so we can try to figure out what happened."

He ate quietly while Sora talked. "I had just come home from visiting my grandmother," Sora said, drawing her legs to herself and hugging her knees. Her clothes – knee length shorts and long sleeved yellow shirt – were a bit dusty, but she looked healthier than Tai felt. He realised that her plush vest was what he had been using as a pillow, and wrote a mental note to thank her later. "I wasn't ready for anything, one minute I was in my room and the next I was somewhere beyond this mountain," she told him. She and Biyomon had been scouting the area, trying to find a reading signal from her Digivice, but either no-one else was here, or Tai had just been the closest one. "And then I found you."

"It's the same story for me," Taichi replied after a moment, "But we were in the middle of the desert, almost, and there was nothing to eat at all. We had some bits of cactus, but that didn't last very long," he said with a grim smile. He'd be happy if he never had to eat the damn thing again. "We were attacked a couple of times, and only ran when we were too exhausted to fight." He looked at Agumon, who was still stuffing his face but nodding at his words.

"I don't even know how I came to be here," Agumon said, "I was nowhere near this desert before Tai arrived."

"Do you think the others are here, Tai?"

He looked at Sora, bringing the roughly made bowl to his lips for another drink. "Yes," he told her, "They must be out there as well. Hopefully in better conditions, eh?"

Sora smiled weakly at him, and Tai frowned for a moment.

"Hey Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for saving us," he murmured quietly, and then, because the moment had been too soft, too intimate – "Took you long enough."

She looked at him, shaking her head and chuckling for a bit. "Jerk," she said, "That's what I'm here for."

It was decided that they would gather what food and water they could and leave in the morning, before the sun was high. They'd get out of the desert, already convinced that they were the only ones in the area, since their Digivices hadn't reacted to any new signals. Though they had been in the Digiworld countless times before, Taichi and Sora agreed in something – this Digiworld seemed different, somehow more hostile. And far too quiet for their taste. The fact that he had encountered a couple of Mon was astounding in itself, for mostly they had fallen victims to the inclement sun, and lack of food. Biyomon and Agumon had told them that in the past few months, Digimon seemed to come out but rarely, hiding mostly, though no one knew from what. They just all agreed that there was something strange in the air, and nowhere felt really safe.

Taichi thought about all they told him, turning his Digivice between his fingers as he laid back on the straw bed that they had made for him. He and Sora had been nowhere near close, yet they were both here now, though they had appeared in very separate points. It made sense then, to assume that the rest of them were here too. Taichi sighed, closing his eyes as he stuffed the little device back inside his pocket. "I just hope Hikari's okay," he murmured quietly, drifting into an exhausted, dreamless sleep.

He awoke to the sound of chatter and movement around him. When he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was that Sora wasn't immediately there. Biyomon and Agumon where having breakfast (an extension of their dinner, really) and Sora was fetching more water for them. Taichi got up, grunted a hello to his friends and walked out of the tiny cavern, intending to find the stream himself. Sora was kneeling at the edge, filling a hollow sort of wooden bucket and only looked up with a smile when she heard him.

"You're up," she said, "And I didn't even have to scream at you." Taichi had always been a rather heavy sleeper, and didn't even budge at her comments. More than once he had been rudely awakened by children jumping at him, having cold water dumped on him, or Mimi yelling into his ear, or, once or twice, Koromon licking his face.

"Oh, shut up," he muttered, crouching and splashing some cold water on his face. Tai cleaned himself as much as he could; the water felt fantastic on his dry, dusty skin. He stood, running his fingers through his wet hair and feeling much fresher than he had since they had first arrived at the Digiworld. He helped Sora carry the water back to their little camp.

It did not take them too much to prepare for their trip. They shared what was left of the food they had found, saved some for later and filled the only water bottle that they had on them while they discussed the best route out of that place. After a while of bickering they decided that they would walk through the woods, not around them. There were two main reasons for this. One, the tall canopy would provide shelter from the sun, shield them from being seen by airborne foes, and provide food in the form of fruits and nuts. The second reason was that they figured that following the stream they'd eventually reach a river, or the sea, and that was their best bet as to where they would follow from there.

The landscape in the Digiworld seemed to have changed considerably, though the Chosen Digimon hadn't really noticed at first. Yet distances seemed to have grown larger; their surroundings were much harsher than they remembered on this side of what they assumed was the continent of Server.

"Come on Sora!" Taichi exclaimed with a grin, "I'd like to get out of here _someday._"

"Oh, shut up," she retorted, but she was smiling as she picked up the pace.

**o - o - o**

On a corner, about a two-day trip away from them, more Digidestineds were finding each other. Koushiro, with his spiky red hair, was typing away furiously on his laptop, a large red beetle-like Digimon nodding expectantly by his side. Izzy and Tentomon had not moved from their semi-secluded camp since the day before, having been too busy trying to decipher this new landscape before adventuring on it by themselves. He plugged in his Digivice and his fingers fired away once more.

"Hmm," he murmured absently.

"What is it, Izzy?" Tentomon asked curiously, scratching his beetle head.

"It's nothing yet … I think," he answered without looking up, "I'm just trying to expand my Digivice's range with my computer. I figure if it works then – " Izzy grinned, throwing a triumphant fist in the air with a 'whooping' sound.

"You found the other Digidestined!"

Several red points appeared at once, spreading themselves thin throughout the map and Izzy and Tentomon exchanged a happy look for a moment, before he frowned. "That can't be right …" he started, "Those are … far _too many_ red points. I think we're not alone, Tentomon."

**o - o - o**

They had been travelling together for three days now. The road had not been particularly difficult, they had plenty of shelter, plenty of food and water and they could rest whenever it was necessary; but there was a growing anxiety around them, a certain unspoken worry. The last three days had been a haze of activity, though the group didn't show it at the moment. They had met Jyou and Gomamon two days back, and he'd already met Koushiro on his own, though he was not with them when they chanced upon each other. Izzy had insisted there was something he needed to do, and that Jyou should trust that he'd find him. Very reluctantly, Jyou had agreed to this arrangement. He had been surprised to find them, immensely grateful as well. It was a good thing they'd found him, too, because Jyou was carrying his emergency supplies bag and they had a feeling they would be needing a lot of that. Jyou Kido had been on his way to his med school practice the day they were all sent to the Digiworld. He too, had no idea what had prompted this trip.

"At least I have my notes," he said lamely, holding up a notebook and making the group roll their eyes and chuckle. Then things had turned a little graver as the inevitable seemed to dawn on everyone. They had been sent back to the Digiworld, but they had hardly seen any Digimon around. Sure, there were occasional run-ins with wild Mon who attacked them for seemingly no reason, but so far, nothing told them where they needed to go, or what they needed to do. That was … new. They weren't used to being left in the dark for so long, it made no sense and it was slowly driving them crazy.

Mimi could feel the air charged around her, and she took her Digivice out to stare at it for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. Still no signal, none at all … she sighed, lowering her oversized hat to cover her face for a minute.

"I hope Tai's okay," she said, "I miss him." The truth was, Tai was one of the persons she missed the most when she had left Japan. At first it hadn't been so obvious, because she hadn't known what exactly _what_ she missed. He had always been an optimist, though perhaps a little more down to earth than she was. And he was so fiercely protective of his friends, that Mimi could look up to that when she felt about to despair. His presence was soothing, and they all fell apart when he was not around. They just weren't as good a team without him.

"Maybe he's met up with Izzy," Takeru said hopefully, "Or Sora."

Beside her, Hikari lowered her face for a moment, a shiver running down her spine. "I'm sure he's fine," she said, and she smiled because that was the sort of thing Hikari would do. "We'll find them in no time."

"Oh, Hikari," Mimi stumbled to find the right words, "I didn't mean anything," she said, waving her hands to and fro, "I really just meant I missed him. Things get awfully quiet without him, don't they?" She flushed red, looking down at her shoes. It was terrible enough that Tai was missing still for her to worsen things by noting on his absence. But Mimi felt so lost, and though she wasn't lonely anymore, she felt as though they were walking aimlessly, without a purpose. And Sora – oh, Mimi missed Sora so much. She cared deeply for Hikari, almost as if she was her little sister too, but Hikari hadn't been there at first – she hadn't spent the first cold, scary nights with them in that strange place. She and Sora had a bond that time and distance had not been able to weaken, let alone break.

Her brow furrowed for a moment, and she was just thinking of something that hadn't occurred to her before. Of course! _How silly she'd been!_

"Hikari, Takeru?" Mimi began, "You should try opening a Digi-Port!" She clapped her hands together, unable to keep her excitement to herself. It was obvious from their lack of reaction that this did not seem such a great idea to them.

"Don't you think we've tried?" Yamato said, without even turning to look at her. "Come on Mimi, even you should know better than that."

"Oh, _fine,_" she replied, pursing her lips. "It was just an idea."

"It was a good idea," Takeru said with an encouraging smile, "Just … not a working one."

"We tried that when we first came, but … it didn't work. We couldn't get any portals to open." Hikari bit her lip absently. "Maybe if Koushiro was here … or Ken …"

Mimi felt a little stupid, but the feeling was overwhelmed by the realisation that they were well and truly trapped here. She hadn't wanted to think about it, though the thought had occurred to her once or twice, when she was on the brink of sleep. It was just so … disheartening. "It'll work," she said after a moment, and even Yamato turned to look at her.

"What - ?"

"We probably just need to defeat some impossible new evil and risk our necks two or thirty times." She was smiling, and Jyou even chuckled at the look on her face.

"Always the optimist," he said with a roll of his eyes.

"You know me."

They all shook their heads, but there were tiny smiles there too, as if the girl's antics had somehow reminded them that, despite the seeming impossibility of the present situation, they'd somehow figure it out. They always did.

As if out of habit, Mimi fingered her Digivice again, turning it loosely on her palm, except this time, the little device beeped once. Mimi blinked, looking closely at the red dots. "They're close," she said quietly, and then her smile broke into a laugh as she started running. She couldn't believe it. They were close, they were _here_. Finally, they were all going to be together and the sooner that happened, the sooner they'd get to leave. Because Mimi was sure by now that the only reason why nothing was happening was because they weren't together yet, something had gone wrong and they had been sent to different places almost as if somebody had wanted to stall for a moment, and didn't know how.

"Oi! Where the _hell_ are you going?" Yamato yelled, while the others looked around in confusion, not knowing what had made her break into such a run. Mimi raised her Digivice over her head, waving her hands frantically. Yamato turned to look at his, and so did everyone else and surely, they could see the dots moving closer and closer to them. They never agreed to it, but before they knew it they were all running and trying to catch up with Mimi, who'd had a decent head start. She could hear them behind her, first confused and then just as ecstatic as she'd been. Palmon was laughing, and the sounds of laughter grew louder in her ears; her hat fell off but she didn't stop to pick it up, and still she kept running.

She didn't know what made her run. Maybe she was still feeling a little stupid about her idea, or maybe she was just excited at the prospect of seeing her friends again (because she just _knew_ it was them), or maybe she just wanted to show Yamato that being an optimist paid off – but when their faces came into view and he broke into a grin, Mimi knew that she had been running because of him.

As her arms went around Taichi's neck, almost tumbling both of them to the floor, Mimi knew that they were not lost anymore.


	4. The Butterfly Effect

**AN:** Well, hello there. I apologise for taking so long to update, I've been swamped with coursework and had virtually no time to write. As always, your reviews are very much appreciated, my dear guests, so this goes out to you. It's a bit longer than the first ones, and I hope you like it! I'll be working on Chapter Five, and hopefully it'll be done in a week's time, and should shed some light in case you have any questions.

Feedback is not only appreciated, it is always encouraged.

* * *

><p>The next few minutes passed in a strangely confusing manner. Mimi, with her arms around Taichi's neck, was close to tears when she finally let go. He was just grinning, and a little stupidly at that.<p>

"Whoa! You almost knocked me out there."

"I'm just _so_ happy to see you," Mimi murmured, wiping a tear or two before they even managed to fall. Hikari had run towards Taichi as well, burying her face in his shirt while his fingers lingered on her back gently.

"So am I," he said softly, but by that time Mimi had pulled both Sora and Koushiro into a tight hug, almost as if she couldn't quite believe they were there. But they were, and it was beyond what she had imagined or expected to find that day.

"Mimi!" Sora laughed, "We're happy to see you too!" the redheaded assured her, and Koushiro was smiling too, as if he couldn't dare to say something to assuage Mimi, because he too, was very grateful to see her and all the rest. Mimi could feel her face and neck growing slightly hot, but if someone was bothered by the exchange, they were not showing it. She thought for a moment that Yamato looked surprised, but then the moment was gone as he too, reached over to welcome his friends.

The decision to make camp there was not one they actively made, it just sort of happened. Before anyone knew they were setting themselves down on logs in a nearby clearing, their belongings on a corner with a warm fire blazing between them. Pleasantries were exchanged of course, Mimi hugged Sora a couple more times before she felt satisfied that her sentiment had come across, and they had sat together as they all shared what had happened during the last few days. Mimi listened closely as everyone spoke, absently stroking Palmon's flowery hair as everyone spoke. When each had told their own version and they were all caught up, Koushiro spoke up.

He was looking very thoughtful, his arms crossed over his chest and his gaze lost in the flames before him. "The portals opened randomly and simultaneously in different parts of the world," he nodded towards Mimi, who was the only one in their group who had not been in Japan when this happened. "And you said Willis was also getting strange readings in his Digivice?"

Mimi nodded.

"Yes. He was the one who called me and warned me about it," she told them, "I hadn't even noticed before. I even thought … he'd be here too."

"Well, he still might be," Koushiro said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Taichi asked, his question mirrored in everyone else's eyes. "I thought _we_ were the only ones here."

"I thought so too, at first," the redhead admitted, "But I was trying to use my computer to expand the radar of my Digivice, and I got several more readings – besides the ones that belonged to you guys," he nodded towards Tai and Sora, both of whom looked very confused.

"Does that mean there are other Digidestined here?" Jyou asked, pushing his glasses up his nose as he did whenever he was in deep thought.

"Miyako maybe?" Mimi asked tentatively, thinking of the violet-haired girl with some tenderness. She was a sweet girl, and had always treated Mimi as if she was an older sister of sorts. In return, Mimi had taken her under her wing.

"Daisuke, Ken and Iori?" Hikari chirped in.

"It is possible, yes," Koushiro said with a nod. "It's hard to tell, because I haven't found a way to determine which ports opened, or who was able to get in. But we're definitely not the only ones here."

There was a strange undertone to his voice, and Mimi was not the only one to hear it. Yamato had figured out as much, she remembered. They all had their theories as to what had happened, but none of them seemed to make much sense once they said them out loud.

"Is it possible all ports opened?" Taichi asked, but Koushiro shook his head.

"We'd have found them by now," he said simply. "It's just not very likely."

"But someone else _is_ here, we know that much."

"Correct."

"I don't know, it doesn't feel right," Takeru spoke, and all eyes turned to him. "Have you guys noticed?"

Hikari nodded. "It's just so … deserted."

"None of our Digimon know what happened, either. It's almost as if – "

"As if someone just shut the Digiworld down."

Everyone turned to look at Yamato when he spoke. He hadn't meant to sound quite so daunting, had said it only matter-of-factly, but his words hung in the air among them, and Mimi almost shivered. The idea that someone – or something, could turn the Digiworld off, just like that, was something neither of them wanted to consider.

"That's one theory," Koushiro said, sighing.

"No, Izzy," Jyou said, and the boy looked so much older than they remembered, his face half obscured by shadow, half unnaturally lit by the orange fire. "I think it makes sense. When was the last time you came across another Digimon?" He looked around at all of them, sure that their faces would reflect the same quiet confusion. "We've been here for a few days, and the way I hear it, only Taichi has run into anything. And I'm not even sure those _were_ Digimon at all. Do you remember anything?"

Taichi opened his mouth, but then closed it. Try as he might, he couldn't really remember what exactly had assaulted them, Digimon or not. They hadn't had the strength, or the energy, or even the focus to take two looks at the things. _But that meant nothing, _he told himself, _it couldn't be anything else…_

"What else _could_ it be, though?" he asked, and then he was afraid for a moment that it had been the wrong question.

"Honestly Tai? I have no idea."

"If this is correct, then we would have to accept the premise that there are other beings in this world, besides what were used to," Koushiro began promptly, cold logic taking over his analytical brain. "Given what we've been through on our multiple er, _adventures_, I would say it isn't such an impossible thing."

"It does feel different than last time," Mimi chanced to say, thinking about Hikari's and Takeru's words. "I mean … we weren't even together this time, we were just _forced_ back here, and the ports are closed now. _All of them_."

"I think we should go out tomorrow," Jyou said. "As Izzy said, we should be able to find _someone_."

"Er, yes. But I still don't know who or even where – the landscape doesn't feel familiar, or does it? I'm think we're somewhere in Server but," he paused, "There's no way we can know for sure."

"Don't worry guys, we'll figure it out." Taichi's enthusiasm was contagious, and Mimi smiled softly at his words. At her side, Palmon was sleeping soundly, her slow breathing the only sound the little plant Digimon even made. All around them, their Digimon slept, trusting that for the first time since they were stuck in this mess, someone else had their children's backs.

Mimi was quickly lost to the conversation that followed. She saw Sora sitting next to Koushiro and Jyou, with Yamato eyeing them closely as they made the plans they'd follow for tomorrow's search. She wasn't the least bit inclined in joining their conversation. It wasn't that she didn't care, it was just that she didn't _have_ to care – Jyou, Sora, Koushiro, any and all of them were better at worrying about this sort of thing than she was, and she knew it. They knew it too, which was why they weren't bothering to ask her what she thought about their plans. Despite herself, she smiled. Some things never changed.

She hadn't realised he was approaching her until he was taking his seat next to her.

"You okay?"

"Hm?" Mimi looked at Taichi fleetingly, "Yeah, I'm fine. It's just – I don't know, it's weird, I guess." She wasn't sure what exactly she was trying to tell him, or why she should, even. Everything was weird, being back here, back with her friends, Mimi felt … well, she felt a little left out. The familiarity with which she greeted them was there, but this wasn't her life anymore, and she had been estranged for so long that she couldn't help but wonder if they thought anything about it at all. "This whole thing, I never expected we'd be back like this."

Taichi shrugged, picking up a stick from the floor and pushing around blades of grass with it. "Me neither," he admitted, and there was a bit of a sheepish smile on his face when Mimi turned to look at him, "But it's nothing, right? We've done this before. Piece of cake."

Mimi smiled softly, partially reassured by his careless words. "I guess so," she replied, "You'd think I'd be used to it by now."

"I don't think you _ever_ get used to this, Mimi. But you have to do it anyway, I guess."

"At least we've got _you_," she told him, gently nudging him with her shoulder.

"Yeah?" he asked, a hint of a grin slowly spreading on his lips.

"Makes me feel better, at least," she said with a shrug, as if it was nothing really, but they both knew what it meant. Taichi was a source of warm comfort for them all, whether they admitted it as openly as she did or not. When he was gone, they fell apart. He was what held them together, the reason they worked so well as a team. There were reasons, after all, why he was _still_ their leader.

"Yes, well, you're a lucky bunch," he said with a chuckle.

"I suppose we are."

She looked at her friends, talking amongst each other, or sleeping (Hikari had been dozing off for a while now) or just standing there, watching it all unfold; she felt a surge of appreciation for them, and for Taichi, who was getting remarkably better at knowing what to say when the time came for pep talks. Perhaps they _were_ in for a little luck.

-x-

The next morning, their little camp was abuzz with activity and excitement. As they had agreed the night before, they intended to figure out as much as they could about their situation, right then and there. Taichi and Koushiro were sitting together, a frown on both their faces as the latter typed away on his computer, while Tai looked at the screen with uncanny interest, his eyes diverting to his Digivice every now and then.

"I don't get it," the redhead was saying, "The signal just _died_. I can't get it back."

"Yamato told me his was going off earlier too," Taichi said, "And mine was _definitely_ doing something weird about two minutes ago."

"Yes, I bet everyone else's were going off."

"Izzy?"

They both turned to look at Hikari as she approached them, a rather confused look on her pretty face.

"I think you should check this out …" She was holding her Digivice in hand, and Takeru was right behind her, holding his. They both held them out for Taichi and Izzy to look at, and they let out a small sound of surprise when they realised what they were looking for. Where Hikari's device marked a certain spot on the map, Takeru's marked an entirely different one. Suddenly, without really stopping to ask why, everyone checked their respective Digivices and they were not entirely surprised now to find that indeed, all pointed to different marks on the map.

"What the _hell_ is going on?"

"Give me your Digivice, Tai," Izzy commanded, plugging his on the computer, "I'm going to re-route all of our Digivices and download their data into one coherent piece," the boy explained, knowing that his friends needed answers.

"Sure, here you go."

Koushiro plugged it in, raising his eyes towards Takeru and Hikari. "You too," he said, extending his hand towards them after giving Taichi's back. His fingers typed away as he plugged each one and, one by one, the pieces of the map fell into place.

"Things are getting weirder every day," Yamato grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest as he looked over Koushiro's shoulder at the map that he was single-handedly putting together. The buzz of the excitement they had met that morning was dulled by the tension that they all felt upon this realisation, not because they were particularly afraid of strange readings from their Digivices, not because this hadn't happened before, but because they _knew_ that things always got a little strange before they turned for the worse.

When the last Digivice was handed back to his owner, Koushiro took a figurative step back to admire his handiwork. His smile fell. The map that was in front of him was familiar, yes, except it wasn't. It looked like someone had inverted the original Digiworld and expanded it from every edge, turning it into a massive landscape that he could only barely start to comprehend.

"This is … I don't get it," he began, "It's all wrong."

"Is that the map?" Yamato asked, "Is _that_ where were supposed to be?"

"It is. At least, I _think_ it is."

"Okay, so the map's a little different. Whatever, we figured that one out. We should get going anyway," Tai said, glancing briefly at the mass of uncharted territory that was flashing menacingly at him.

"It's not just the shape of the map, Tai," Jyou quipped, "The effects of reversing and expanding a place like the Digiworld," he paused, "I mean, _everything_ could be different now."

"So nothing we ever knew is where it's supposed to be?" Hikari asked, and Koushiro nodded at her.

"It's more than that, I think," Koushiro said, "The physical landmass has changed, but I don't know how that could happen without affecting everything else …"

"So maybe that's why we haven't seen any Digimon," Sora said, and Mimi shuffled uncomfortably beside her.

"Great," she sighed, "As if this place needed to get any _more_ mysterious."

Her eye caught a flash of blue, but Yamato wasn't looking at her when he spoke. He was staring at his Digivice, frowning deeply. "They're not all different, though," he said, and Taichi's head whipped around to see him.

"What do you mean? You just saw, they're different markings."

"No, Taichi, _look_."

And the brunette did, squinting his eyes at the screen as he realised that Yamato's words were true. Two different signals seemed to point at the same time, and Taichi gave a loud, exaggerated sigh.

"I'm leaving this to you, Kou," he said, "This beeping is giving me a major headache."

"It appears we should be able to follow these leads simultaneously," he said, looking at his very own signal. "I suppose we'd be over sooner, too." He looked up at his friends, chuckling a bit at their mostly confused faces. "Just find whoever's signal is the same as yours. We'll pair up and meet at an equidistant point, just before sundown."

"Well, that sounds about right," Takeru said, standing next to a crouching Mimi, who had been eyeing the exchange with a rather worried look. She stood, resting her head against the younger boy's shoulder and sighed.

"Can't I just partner with you?" she asked, only half-joking.

"I don't think it works that way, Mimi," he replied, a running his hand through his hair and looking as apologetic as he sounded. Mimi chuckled a bit – perhaps even giggled, at the teenager's antics. Trust Takeru to apologise for something that wasn't his fault. She shook her head, looking around to locate her partner for what Taichi was now referring to as "the mission" – her eyes lingered, just for a second too long, on Yamato and Sora as they smiled at each other before walking away, clearly not in league. Mimi smiled, perhaps she and Sora would partner then.

On her left, Hikari was carrying Tailmon in her arms, laughing at something Jyou or Gomamon had said (she had her money on it being Gomamon). Sora approached her, a wide smile on her lips.

"Partners, Mimi?" she asked, waving her Digivice at her.

"Oh, I do hope so," Mimi exclaimed happily, showing her own, but the images did not match. "Or not," she added, biting down on her tongue.

Sora shrugged, giving her friend a sheepish smile.

"Next time, then."

"Taichi?" Mimi asked as she approached their leader, gently tapping his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Partners?"

"I got Takeru," he said, rubbing the back of his neck and pointing a thumb at Yamato's younger brother as he waved at her.

"Then it's either Koushiro or Yamato," Palmon said, looking up at Mimi with a happy-go-lucky kind of smile that made Mimi quite glad to have her with her. Despite her size and strange organic composition, Palmon was not afraid of whatever challenges she had to face, as long as she had Mimi with her. Mimi, for the most part, felt the same, though there were still times when the idea of fighting immeasurable evil made her shudder.

"Come on," Yamato said, "Everyone else is ready." As if to explain, he tilted his head towards Koushiro, already busy making plans with Sora. Basic arithmetic left them together, and he didn't even bother to check her signal.

"It's been a long time since we went on any adventures, eh Palmon?" Gabumon said, and Palmon laughed behind her leafy hands.

"Far too long!" she agreed, going a bit ahead with him as Mimi stood, placing her hat upon her head.

"Yeah, yeah," Mimi said, heaving her bag on her shoulder, "Adventure calls again."

-x-

The signal they had been following had led them far from the others and towards a large, looming forest. It had looked intimidating from afar but when they finally reached the edge the enormity of the place was absolutely terrifying. The trees stood so tall and thick that Mimi wondered how any sunlight could get through the thickly packed canopy. The place was eerily quiet, and their footsteps, though muffled on the soft padding of dead leaves and moss, sounded almost too loud in her ears.

Yamato looked tense, one hand in his pocket and the other gripping his Digivice tightly. A few steps in front of him, Gabumon looked alert, as though ready to snap his jaws against an enemy whenever the moment came. Palmon, who was usually sweet and a little ditzy, like Mimi, looked very grave. Sometimes they thought they could hear her muttering to herself or to the trees, and they weren't sure which one worried them the most.

"These woods feel much older than they should," Palmon said after a moment, and Mimi shuddered a little, not sure she wanted to know what her friend was talking about.

"What do you mean?" she asked, casting a sideways glance at Yamato, whose eyes were fixed on Palmon.

"It feels as though they've been here forever but that can't be," her friend said, "I mean ... I definitely haven't been here before, but it feels almost familiar..."

"Well, there's nothing we can do about that, but we should be able to reach what we're looking for sometime late today or early tomorrow," Yamato said, only then turning to look at Mimi. The girl was wringing her hands nervously, and he wished (not for the first time) that she wasn't wearing that stupid hat because he couldn't even see her face and didn't know whether she was listening to him or not. "I'd rather we reach them in the morning." Light was a concern, if night turned out to be half as dark as he imagined it would be. Even now, so early in the day, the light in the forest was a dull green. The silence was oppressive and there was an uncomfortable humidity in the air, but he refused to be the first one to complain. That was, after all, Mimi's specialty.

"Let's pick up the pace," Mimi said, surprising him for a moment as she turned to look at him. He must've looked curious or stupid, because she was frowning at him, raising an inquisitive eyebrow.

"What?"

He shook his head.

"It's nothing," he said, "Let's just go." The girl had never been the best companion or the easiest to bear, but Matt didn't want to start thinking about that right now. A long time had passed between now and then, and though he didn't know quite what to expect, he would not be blamed for not giving her a chance. She looked at him for a moment only before resuming her walk, considerably picking up her pace.

"All that power-walking through the city finally paid off," she exclaimed after a while, a remark to which Yamato could not or would not reply. He didn't turn to look at her again, but squared his shoulders and walked a little faster than her, if only to put her out of his line of view. Frankly, he was sick of the unnatural quiet of these woods, but he refused to engage Mimi in conversation in case she decided never to stop talking. Things were sufficiently uncomfortable without that happening.

He felt as though they had walked into a bubble, with humid hot air that stifled him. Was it just him, or was it getting hotter in here? Yamato wiped sweat off his forehead, letting out a slow sigh. He had removed his coat early in the morning, but he was still hot, and sweaty, and tired.

"Stop, I need a break," Mimi said, and Yamato nodded, grateful that she had spoken. He sat against the trunk of a large tree, an arm over his eyes as he stubbornly wished his body would cool down. He opened his eyes when he heard her collapsing against a similar tree, her cheeks pink and her hair sticking to her face. The idea that Tachikawa Mimi could look like that was one to relish.

She was unceremoniously using her large floppy hat to fan some cool air at her warm body, no different than she would if she were at the beach, or the park. The idea made him smile slightly, and he reached for the last drops in his waterskin, wiping his mouth on the back of his hand.

"You okay?" he asked her and his stomach did a funny little flip when she opened her honey brown eyes to look at him. For a moment before she opened her mouth, Yamato could've sworn she looked rather ... adorable.

"No," she answered, narrowing her eyes a little, "I'm tired. I'm hot. I don't want to keep walking. This thing doesn't even _move_." She paused, and then took a deep breath. "We're not getting any closer, Ishida."

Matt looked at her, then sighed.

"I think you're right."

She fully expected him to roll his eyes at her, or even raise his voice a little, tell her to quit being a baby. What she didn't expect was for Ishida Yamato to agree with her.

"You do?"

His eyes shot back at her, looking at her as though she was stupid. And perhaps he thought she was, a little bit.

"It's more of a fact, really," he said slowly, "We aren't getting any closer to the signal, though we've been walking for hours."

Gabumon was sprawled against the forest floor, breathing slowly with his tongue hanging limply on the side of his mouth. Palmon was the only one that didn't seem too bothered by the weather – the nutrients in the ground below them were abundant, and the humidity was absorbed by her plant-like form, keeping her cool. She had taken Mimi's discarded hat and was fanning her human companion, trying to comfort her in such an abandoned, horrid place.

"We need to keep going, Mimi," she said gently, "Come on, I'll find water for you, please."

Yamato knelt down next to Gabumon, gently touching his furry shoulder. The trek was more difficult for him since he was wearing that thick fur over his body, and he was growing as anxious as Tachikawa to leave the darned place.

"Come on pal," he said, "Just a little bit longer."

Mimi stood, her kimono wrapped around her waist and her hat back in her hands, sending waves of cool air that reached even Matt.

"Fine, fine," she said, blowing a strand of hair from her face.

They resumed their walk, though it was a considerably slower pace. It was a while before Mimi took out a few fruits from her bag, passing them along to Yamato and Gabumon. The fruits looked like yellow pears and were ripe and sweet, but most importantly, were juicy. The snack acted as a quick pick-me-up, and they were more animated as they followed Palmon, who was just a few steps ahead of them.

He had to admit, having Palmon with them in this trip was proving very useful. The small creature was well-connected to the flora and knew what plants were poisonous, which were edible, and could follow traces of water before Gabumon could smell a stream or they could hear it. She had much more energy than them, because the humus on the forest floor was keeping her pumped up and she was cheerful like Mimi, but somehow he couldn't fault her for that.

The route that they were following had not led them any closer, and though none spoke about it just yet, they all thought there might be something else wrong with the forest.

The sun was low by the time they reached the stream. It was a little ways towards the southern part of the forest, and Palmon guessed they were somewhere around the middle of it. The stream was wide enough to swim, ran a lengthy way, so far that they could not see where it ended.

"You guys stay here, ok?" Palmon said, "I'll go see if I can find some food!"

"Be careful Palmon," Mimi said, waving as her friend disappeared into the thicket once again. She hurried to the bank of the river, kneeling to hold water in her hands and drink deeply once, twice, five times. She then filled her waterskin and washed her face, removing traces of dirt, sweat and who knew what else.

Yamato was doing the same as her, washing the back of his neck and sighing softly at the cooling sensation. Gabumon had had no such patience, as he was already neck deep in a lower point of the stream, both drinking and washing himself at his leisure.

"Feeling better buddy?" Yamato called, raising his dripping head and running his fingers through his hair, trying to comb it a little unsuccessfully.

"Loads!" Gabumon exclaimed happily. "I think I could stay here forever."

He chuckled at his friend, then turned around to look at Mimi splashing water into her face. "There's a big rock there," he began, pointing a little ways upstream. The girl looked up at him, wiping the excess water off her face. "You know, er, I thought you might want to ... wash. I'll keep an eye out here, if you want." He wasn't sure what prompted him to offer for this, but he reckoned that it was about time he made some effort with the girl. If they were going to go on in this fashion, they'd have to do more than cast sideways glances at each other and roll their eyes.

Mimi, for her part, did not seem to need much convincing. She stood up with a smile, lightly patting his arm as she walked away, taking her bag with her. "I won't take long," she said, and he nodded.

Once Yamato turned away, Mimi practically ran to the little pool behind the big rock he had pointed at. It was private enough for her to bathe, but open enough to keep an eye out on her companions over her shoulder. Mimi removed her clothes and lowered herself into the water, washing them gently and laying them out to dry on the hot rocks. The water went up to her chin, and she spent the next few minutes carefully removing all dirt from her skin and her hair. The water felt great on her hot skin, and she opened her eyes to look at the skies, which would soon become a bright gold and orange as the sun began to sink. Mimi got up and wrapped her kimono around her body, gathering her belongings in her arms.

Mimi found that Gabumon and Yamato had kept themselves busy, for there was a make-shift camp already set up. "Hey Gabumon," she called, "Can you heat up that rock over here?"

"Sure but why –" he began, then his eyes went very round as she came closer, her clothes on her hand. Gabumon turned around wildly, raising his paws to cover his eyes. "I'm sorry, I didn't see anything, I swear!"

"Oh, don't be so silly," she said, rolling her eyes, "Just heat that rock so I can dry these out, please?"

It wasn't that Mimi was entirely without modesty, but multiple adventures in the Digital World had hardened her to some things. She had been ran into in baths, had been chased around wearing just a towel, had gone around days without showers and walked around in dirty, dusty clothes. The comforts that were regular to her back home were vast luxuries in here, and she wouldn't pass up the opportunity to wash her clothes if she could. Still, she'd like to do so without upsetting more members of her group, which was why she wanted to dry them out in hot stones before Yamato decided to join their little party.

Gabumon opened his mouth and jets of blue fire licked the stones she had pointed too, glowing red for a few moments after the fire stopped. Mimi pat his head and muttered her thanks, but he only turned around again, a furious blush on his face and his paws still covering his eyes. It was in this manner that Yamato found him, sitting down and staring resolutely in front of him.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked, but the Digimon just shook his head. Shrugging, Yamato turned away, trying to figure out where Mimi was. He dropped the measure of wood he'd been carrying for a fireplace, and looked out to where she was standing, leaning forward to pick up what he now saw where her blouse and shorts, her flowery kimono loosely wrapped around her body. Yamato felt a small blush creep to his cheeks as she looked up, the colour in her cheeks matching his.

Yamato raised a hand to his forehead, closing his eyes.

"Your robe's undone," he managed to say, just before turning around and crossing his arms across his chest looking just as Gabumon had just a few moments before.

"Oh."

Mimi quickly scrambled into her clothes, swearing under her breath. She had intended to keep some decency, but even that was denied to her in this hostile place. She stared at Yamato's golden hair, his back turned resolutely to her and she could feel her face burning up, but anything she thought of saying sounded incredibly inappropriate – even for her. Mimi went back to the stream and dropped her kimono there, washing it gently against her hands and wishing, not for the first time, that she had partnered up with Sora instead.

When her robe was carefully sprawled against the stone, trying to take full advantage of whatever heat and sunlight remained; Mimi went back to camp and was happy to find Palmon returning with some berries, roots and nuts. Gabumon was carrying some fish wrapped in big leaves, grinning as he showed his haul.

"Matt and I got these," he said, and Mimi hesitated a little before looking at Yamato, who was a little ways off gutting the fish he had brought. When he returned and was stabbing the earth around the newly made fire with fish on sticks, he turned to look at Mimi for just the briefest of seconds.

"Next time you want to walk around like that," he said, "A little heads up would be nice."

Mimi huffed, feeling her cheeks grow warmer again.

Palmon turned her head to one side, looking confused.

"Did I miss something?"

But they both answered, "No".

-x-

It was late, and Mimi was cold. Yamato was sitting a couple of meters away from her, poking the fire. Without looking at her, he spoke.

"Go back to sleep, my watch isn't finished yet."

Mimi paused, but she still lowered herself next to him, hugging her knees to her chest. It wasn't his words that bothered her so much as his tone – Mimi didn't really appreciate being ordered around, even if it _was_ for her own sake.

"I'm cold," she said, "Can't sleep."

The temperature had dropped significantly, and Mimi had been shivering for a while before she realised it. Despite the comforts of being clean and having had a half-decent meal (it turned out the berries made a rather lovely sauce for the fish), Mimi was still too cold and too worried to sleep much. He stood up, and she was about to ask him where he thought he was going when he returned, holding her kimono robe in his hands. He held it out for her before sitting down, facing the fire again.

"It's cold right now but the fire should warm it up in no time," he said, and Mimi threw it around her back, holding both ends in front of her.

"Thank you," she muttered softly, already feeling a lot warmer. Mimi hugged herself, staring into the fire and trying to figure out what exactly was bothering her.

"You know," she began, so quietly that she was sure he could pretend not to hear her, "I'm glad you're here."

Yamato turned to look at her for the first time since that afternoon, and she was a little taken aback to see that he looked very surprised. He seemed to realise this, because she blinked and all traces of surprise were erased from his face. He didn't answer that he was glad to have her there; she knew he wouldn't. But surely nothing she had done yet should guarantee that amount of surprise?

"It's okay," he said quietly, and there was a funny little smile on his lips, "I know you'd feel better if it was Taichi here instead of me."

The admission came, if it could, more surprising than Mimi's. Yamato looked a little discomfited, but nothing else could be said about it. Mimi just frowned, unsure of how to respond. What he said was true, at least to some extent. Taichi was easier to be around. He wouldn't have stayed in taciturn silence all day after what had happened in the afternoon, he'd have laughed it off, joked and teased her until she got angry and then beg her forgiveness. He wouldn't let the silence between them stretch and grow as oppressively as Yamato did. And perhaps all of that was true, but Mimi was not going to say that.

"Actually," she said after a moment, "If I had a choice, it would've been Sora."

Perhaps he had misjudged her, after all. Yamato was still not because he wanted to appear stoic, but because he didn't know how to act now that the admission had escaped his lips. He hadn't meant to put her in a tough spot either, but he had spent most of the day remembering why things were so strained with him and Mimi, and he knew that she had too. How could she not? Things were never easy between them, and he was only realising just how deteriorated their relationship was.

But he chuckled, because she was trying and he supposed if she could, then he could too.

"If I had choice, it would've been her too."

Mimi smiled.

"So that's still going on, huh?"

"It's ..." he paused, "Going."

"Going well?"

"Just going."

They were quiet for a moment, and Yamato was grateful that the fire was between them and she could not see the pink in his face, or how jittery talking about this made him, especially with her.

"Maybe they should be going faster," she finally said, stretching as she stood up, "Or not. I don't know. I think I'm going to try to get some sleep. Wake me up if anything happens!"

She left without another word, and Yamato ran a hand through his hair as he sighed. It was what Mimi did, he supposed, pulling stunts like that for no reason at all.

-x-

When Yamato woke up the moon was still hanging over his head. He looked around for a moment, unsure of when he had fallen asleep and feeling instantly regretful about it. Behind his head, acting as a pillow, was Mimi's bag, and he assumed she had been the one to put it there, and also throw his jacket over his arms. He groaned as he sat up, looking around for her.

"Tachikawa?" he asked, his voice still sleepy and hoarse.

"She's not here," Gabumon answered, sitting down next to Matt.

"What? Where is she? And Palmon?"

"They went to check something out. She told me not to wake you."

"You should've woken me," Matt said, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes and scrambling around to go wash his face.

"You stayed up most of the night," Gabumon said with a nod, "You need to keep your strength." Years of knowing Yamato had given him an uncanny understanding of the young man, and though he knew that he would complain, had chosen to do as Mimi said. Of the four of them, Yamato and Gabumon were the strongest, and it was only logical that they kept their strength at all times. Mimi knew this, and so did Matt.

Matt returned to find that not only had Mimi left him to sleep; she had also set aside a portion of food for him in case he woke up. He felt a rush of affection for the girl, who was so out of odds most of the time but genuinely cared about all her friends. Even him, who wasn't so much a friend as ... someone who was occasionally there.

It was a while before Mimi returned. Yamato had wanted to go after them, but they were afraid of what would happen if they were to return and not find them at camp, so he decided to give them an hour, at most. Just when he was about to leave, the girl and her Digimon had returned.

Mimi's face was pink, flushed with the effort of running back. He met her halfway with Gabumon, searching them as she rested her hands on her knees, breathing with difficulty.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"Yes, are you girls okay?" Gabumon asked.

"It's the – the forest – the sun – we can't – must not – _lies_," Mimi panted, holding on to Yamato's shoulder for support.

"What? _Tachikawa, what?_"

"It's the forest," Palmon said, recovering her breath first, "There's _something_ keeping us here. That's why your Digivices aren't working – it won't let us leave."

"It? Palmon, what are you talking about? Tachikawa – "

"Palmon heard something last night, coming from the trees. She told me she wanted to go exploring and I wouldn't let her go alone. There's _something_ in those woods, I don't know how to begin explaining – I'm not sure I even get it myself!"

She sank to the floor and Yamato knelt before her, his deep blue eyes staring right at her.

"Mimi," he said gently, and the use of her name made her jump a little. "If there's _anything_ there, if we're in any danger, I need you to tell me. Now."

"We need to go," she said, making him frown, "We'll show you."

"We should probably find some food to carry then –" he began, but Mimi cut him off.

"No, just take your things. We found the way out, it's not too long. Just – just follow us. Don't get separated, and don't stop."

Yamato frowned at her, but she looked so resolute and agitated that he did not wish to argue with her. "I'll carry your bag," he said, "Lead the way."

Mimi nodded at Palmon, who at once made for the thicket of trees. The three of them followed her, silently at first, but then Mimi began to talk.

"It's the sunlight," she said, and Matt walked closer to her to listen better, "When the sun hits the trees, the light, the very air we breathe – it's almost poison."

"What?" both him and Gabumon asked, shocked to say the least. "What do you mean by that?"

"Wait, will you?" she snapped, annoyed that they should interrupt her. "The route we've been following is wrong. We can't get out of the woods through it; it's designed to confuse us." She looked at Matt, but there was very little of her that he could see with the thick darkness around them. Yamato had been right – he did not want to be here without any light.

"Palmon said something was calling to her, from inside the forest. But we haven't found any other living things, and she – well, she claims it wasn't someone so much as a ... consciousness."

Here, he could hear the hesitation in her voice, which was presumably the only thing that could convince him that she hadn't lost her mind. At least she _knew_ she wasn't making any sense.

"I was following the water," Palmon said after a moment, "There are many underground streams, and they all flow towards the centre, like ... like a heart."

"We found something – well, we found many things, but we figured it wouldn't be safe to go ahead without you, so we came back as fast as we could," Mimi interjected, "Palmon, catch!" She threw a small flashlight at the Digimon, who started it and made herself much easier to follow, now that she was a beacon in the dark. They were tripping a little over small roots and rocks, but neither of them complained or slow down. Yamato was growing ever more anxious, but Mimi seemed to have finally relaxed.

They kept walking, but he no longer knew how long it had been since they had begun. The woods were cold and eerie, much worse than they had been during the day, and he half expected something to lunge at their throats any second now. But nothing happened, there was nobody but them in there and Yamato grew wearier.

"How did you figure out it was the sun?" he asked suddenly.

"We just sort of heard," Mimi answered, and though she couldn't see him, she was sure his eyes were narrowed in her direction. "This – thing that talked to Palmon, told her the sunlight made the forest act up. Like, if we travelled during the day the sun and the air would slow us down, and we would lose track of time. And we would've, too, if Palmon hadn't decided to follow that stream."

"Then what are we following? Where are we going?"

"Just wait, please?" she said, and he bit his tongue, unwilling to do more than that. He hated being in the dark – and though the girl had answered some of his questions, there were many more that had gone unanswered. If she meant what he thought she did ...

"Tachikawa?"

"Yes?"

"How long have we been here?"

"What?"

He could hear it in her voice, and he took a small breath before repeating the question.

"How long have we been here?"

There was a pause and a sigh.

"Three or four days – maybe a week," she answered slowly, "We weren't able to figure out exactly."

"How did you figure?"

"My Digivice started up as soon as we reached the clearing – yours should too, right around ... now."

The beeping noise was impossible to miss. Yamato looked at it, the blue light flashing and almost hurting his eyes after being immersed in such darkness. The date indeed indicated that some time had passed, and his lips formed a thin line as he looked at it. So the forest had slown down time, and had made them wander about aimlessly, without knowing or feeling it, for five days.

The trees were clearing, become thinner and sparser. The sky above them became visible, and though he could still see the moon hanging low above them, the first few rays of sunshine were already beginning to break over the horizon. Then the trees disappeared, and they came to a sudden stop.

They were standing in front of what seemed like a small piazza, a series of stone structures filling and surrounding it. There were eight pillars, and in the middle, a cylindrical table of dark stone. Palmon reached for Mimi's hand and they walked together towards the strange structure. Mimi looked over her shoulder, and Yamato followed her until they were in the very middle of the plaza.

"Look at the pillars," she told him, and he did. Around eight feet tall, made of dark stone and chiselled to perfection, there was something engraved in the one before him, and he sucked his breath in loudly.

"What the hell?"

"Did you find yours?" Mimi asked, a few pillars away from him.

He was looking at the image engraved before him, two circular shapes joined by a little line ...

"Koushiro's crest?"

"Mhm. I found yours."

Matt walked over to her, looking at the crest of Friendship engraved in a pillar. But what was truly remarkable was that there were some that were shining – Takeru's and Taichi's, right beside where Yamato currently stood. Mimi nodded towards Hikari's and Jyou's. And then, Sora's lit up as well. There was no switch that they could see or touch, nothing that indicated how and why they activated. The light that they expelled was strange, dull, a mockery of the shine that he remembered and expected.

"There's something else, too."

"Mimi, here!" Palmon's voice said, and he watched her approach the cylinder he had seen before.

"What's that?" he asked, looking over his shoulder as the girl's hand approached something. He frowned. "Maybe you shouldn't touch – "

But he was too late.

Mimi had picked up a small stone instrument, the crest of Sincerity embedded on it. He approached her warily, looking at the thing in her hand only to find that there was one for him, too. He held the object in his hands, turning it slightly, and he was about to ask her what she thought these were when he felt the object grow ridiculously hot in his hand. Mimi screamed, dropping the object even as he did, and he could feel where the stone had scalded his fingers, the flesh raw beneath it.

There was a flash of light, a wave of heat and then the temperature dropped low, low enough that Mimi thought her heart might stop from the cold but it was just a moment, not more than a few seconds and a dark energy was released from the stone cylinder, exploding like a bomb around them. They fell to the floor, knocked back by the sudden energy blast, and all he could think was that it was so sudden, he hadn't been prepared, couldn't see it coming and –

"What the – "

There was a loud crack – two loud cracks, and the objects broke just at the same time that something snapped in Mimi's chest and Yamato's pocket. Gabumon and Palmon rushed to their sides but there was no-one to fight, nothing to protect them from. Mimi pulled her necklace over her head, the inactive crest that was hanging in there now broken in her hand.

Yamato did not reach for his own, already knowing that it would be broken. He was staring in front of him, where Mimi's crest and his own were now shining malevolently on the pillars they had just been admiring.


	5. System Error 404

**AN:** Thank you for your sweet reviews! I am honoured to find you're pleased so far. If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to make them; I'd love to know how the story is being received.

I am going to warn you – this chapter contains a _lot_ of dialogue. I was a bit hesitant to include so much but I think it was the best way to drop the info without being boring. Please enjoy it and thank you for reading!

* * *

><p>He wanted to get as far as he could from the place, but Tachikawa would not have it. She reached for her bag, pulling out her phone and snapping a picture of the place, of the crests and the thing that stood in the middle, from whence the commotion had erupted. He wanted to yell at her, tell her she was being stupid for snapping pictures of the goddamned place, but he recognised instantly that they were not meant for her. Mimi was collecting evidence so that they could show their friends – Koushiro, more specifically. His jaw tightened, turning his body from the sight of her. It was a pretty damn clever thing to do, but he couldn't think of congratulating her with the strange thing that had happened tonight looming over his head.<p>

"Let's get out of here," he said, and Mimi shouldered her bag with a nod, their Digimon pals trailing beside them.

They were on the border of a sparse continent, and Palmon sighed as the sun rose above them. They had left the thicket of trees behind them, but they were still at least a day's travel from the point where they had agreed to meet their friends. They didn't speak much at first, and both Digidestined were tired and anxious; there was very little either of them could do. When they felt that they had put enough distance between themselves and that strange temple (Yamato kept thinking of it as such), they stopped near a brook to catch a breath.

Mimi and Palmon looked the worst, as both were tired and had slept very little, but neither one was complaining. Mimi took a swig of water and then looked at Yamato, speaking quietly as Palmon stood in the brook and drank some water.

"Ishida?" she asked.

Yamato turned to her very slowly. Her skin looked very pale, and she had dark circles under her pretty brown eyes. She was not smiling, but she was not crying either, and he supposed he should be grateful of that. She gave him a questioning look, and he only blinked twice, rapidly.

"Yes?"

"Do you think this happened to the others?" The question was not posed logically, not coldly how he was thinking it. Mimi was concerned about her friends, and she was asking him to give her comforting words that he could not find.

"Yes," he answered simply. "You saw the pillars. They only lit up after our crests broke."

Mimi winced, as though she was feeling it break again against her chest. She took the necklace out of her pocket, examining it closely for a moment. It had been deactivated years ago, when they had given them up in a last attempt to save the world. It had worked of course, but Palmon could never be Lillymon again after that. Mimi only nodded, and he understood that there was nothing left to say. The signals on their Digivices had disappeared, and they had agreed that what they had picked up was those strange stones, not other Digidestined; they didn't need Koushiro or Jyou to tell them that.

"Gabumon?"

"Yeah, Matt?"

"Can you Digivolve?" he asked, "We need to get to the others, fast."

Before them, Gabumon smirked.

"It'll be my pleasure."

Garurumon was a gigantic beast of a wolf, his hide and fur stronger than steel, yet surprisingly warm and soft to the touch. They had been riding for the best part of the day, stopping only for necessities such as food and water, and to grant Garurumon a little break. The place where they would meet was at the skirts of a mountain that had reminded them of Infinity Mountain, except it was much taller and standing somewhere in the middle of this strange continent. It was an entire mountain range, they noticed as they drew closer, and if nothing else, at least it should provide decent shelter for them all.

Night had already fallen when Yamato and Mimi arrived, riding Garurumon like they were born to do it. Jyou was standing guard, throwing pebbles into the small lake near where they had set up camp.

"Yamato! Mimi-chan!" he exclaimed, running up to meet them.

"Yamato's back?"

"Mimi-chan!"

"Hey guys! You're back!"

Mimi allowed herself to be caught in embraces, holding Hikari's hand and hugging Takeru tightly. Yamato was standing before Sora, who looked very embarrassed about something, while he shook his head, smiling at her. She chanced to come closer to him, and for the briefest time, he held her. Then he let go and Sora wiped a tear from her eye, turning to hug Mimi and tell her how much she'd missed her, and how happy she was to have her back; but Mimi had the distinct impression that she was talking to someone else as she did so.

Taichi grinned at her before nodding at Matt.

"It's good to have you back," he said, and she knew he meant it. Matt shuffled awkwardly beside her, and she blushed slightly as she thought of the conversation that they had almost had that night, beside the fire. But if he was thinking about that, he definitely did not show it. Matt only clapped Tai's shoulder as he walked towards the fire they had going, announcing loudly that they were hungry and that there better be some food left.

Garurumon, now back into his rookie state, collapsed into a useless heap by a corner, tired and spent. Mimi went over to kiss his cheek, patting his head affectionately for a few minutes. "Thank you," she told him, "For bringing us back safely."

"It was nothing," he muttered sheepishly, but she noticed his smile and it made her happy to see it. Palmon sat before him, beaming as she pushed a plate of food towards him.

"Nonsense!" she exclaimed, "You were great out there!"

"It was the least I could do, after you helped us so much in the forest…"

Mimi ruffled Palmon's flowery head and laughed a little.

"You were both amazing," she told them, "Eat, have some rest." Mimi sighed as she straightened up. "I guess it's going to be a long night."

She hadn't guessed wrong. The others had let them rest a little; they had some food and tried to unwind before they were interrogated on what had taken them so long. Koushiro and Sora had been the last to arrive, but that had been that very morning. Taichi and Takeru had been the first, followed by Jyou and Hikari. The stories all matched. Each pair had followed their signal into dangerous, unwelcoming places, only to find fragments of rock with their crest engraved in them. They said nothing of pillars, or strange lights – just the burning sensation (Mimi's hand prickled) and the wave of dark energy that had engulfed them and shattered their crests.

Mimi had been particularly sad about that little bit, fingering her broken crest of Sincerity and wishing she could have done something to avoid it. Even after such a long time, they kept their tags, almost as if they were constant reminders of what it had cost them.

"I had almost forgotten," Mimi said, taking out her phone and handing it to Koushiro, "That's what we found." She saw Matt out of the corner of her eye, and he began explaining what had happened when they left the enchanted (or cursed) forest, how their Digivices had reacted to the stones and how they had cracked and lit up the pillars as they did. He told them, too, what they presumed had happened to all of them, and how they had lit in turn after each of their crests had been broken.

"That's curious," Koushiro said, only after Yamato and Mimi had relayed their story in full detail. "I don't see why they should've reacted like that, our crests have been inactive for a long time."

It was true, they all knew it. They'd willingly given up the power in their crests to help Azulongmon and the Harmonious Ones a few years before. The tension had grown considerably between them as they considered the many perils that they had faced before, and those that were still unknown to them. The whole mysterious aspect of their adventure was quickly making them anxious, and they had grown quite desperate for answers.

"The fact that we're even carrying it is mere sentimentality," Jyou said, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"I don't know though," Sora said, looking at the broken crest that was cold against her palm, "I thought we didn't really need them. Remember that time with Apocalymon?"

"Yes, but we really did lose them the second time," Yamato said, "Gabumon couldn't digivolve into Weregarurumon or Metalgarurumon."

"But then we got the DigiCores, didn't we?" Agumon piped in, "I don't need the Crest of Courage anymore!"

"Not _physically_," Koushiro corrected him, "You still draw energy from Taichi, and it manifests when he embodies or embraces his Crest."

"This is giving me a headache," Mimi complained, and Hikari was the only one who deigned to even offer her a smile. The rest chose to ignore her comment; not that there was anything new to that.

"But then why would they break?" Takeru asked, "And why would our crests be engraved in those things?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out, Takeru," Jyou said curtly.

"I keep thinking we're missing something."

"They could've been portals of some sort," Hikari said, but Yamato shook his head.

"No, they were pretty solid. And you _know_ all portals are sealed."

"Maybe they're bad eggs!" Mimi exclaimed, pounding her fist softly down on her open palm, as if she had suddenly figured out the great mystery.

They all looked at looked at the brunette, a little exasperated at that. Things were very stressful as it was, and none of them thought they could handle anyone fooling around with them just then. Mimi's offer, however well intentioned, was poorly received by them, who were grasping at straws to find an answer they could accept.

"Er … what?" Koushiro asked her, unsure if he had heard right.

"They weren't _eggs_, Mimi, come on," Taichi said, and there was little trace of his usual friendly demeanor with her, "They can't go _bad_."

"I mean _Digi-Eggs_, of course," the girl muttered with exasperation, rolling her eyes at him. "Of course they can go bad. Remember the dark gears? They made Digimon evil, why couldn't they corrupt Digi-Eggs?"

"Because Mimi, they're _not_ Digi-Eggs!" Taichi quipped again, his voice rising considerably.

"You don't know that, Yagami."

"Yeah, well, neither do you, Tachikawa."

Mimi crossed her arms over her chest, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks. She hated the way they were looking at her, as though what she had said was any more ludicrous than what little they had to offer. Suddenly, Mimi felt eleven again, sitting down with the more "adult" children as they called all the shots.

"You saw what they did," Sora said, "They disintegrated, and all that energy came out … I'm sorry Mimi, but those things looked nothing like Digi-Eggs."

"I'm not saying they have to be. I said they _could_ be," Mimi muttered resentfully. At least Sora should have her back.

"Well, if you're going to say anything at all, at least make it something we can believe in." She looked at Jyou, who looked apologetic for only a fraction of a moment.

"I don't see any of _you_ offering any bright ideas." She raised a cold eyebrow, looking at her friends. That shut Jyou up, his lips pressed in a tight, grim line.

"There aren't any dark gears, we would've seen them when we held the … _things_," Yamato said, and he almost regretted it once the brunette turned to glare at him. He looked at her levelly, almost as if he was indifferent to the daggers she sent him.

"Well … we don't know much, so really … they _could_ _be_, right?" Hikari said, looking at Mimi tentatively, as if she was about to explode on her as well. Mimi only sighed. She was a good kid, Hikari. So different to that brother of hers – stubborn almost to fault, and too stupid sometimes. Mimi knew that she was thinking that in anger; she loved Taichi, but right now she simply could not stand him.

"Oh, shut up Hikari," Taichi said, and the girl's cheeks turned bright red.

"Whatever," she muttered, shifting away from him and turning her nose up at him.

"Guys," Koushiro said, "Let's not fight over this, we don't know what's out there, we don't know what will happen now that we broke those seals," he looked at his friends, sighing. "This isn't working."

"Well, aren't you a genius," Yamato said in a bored, drawling voice. Koushiro frowned, but Yamato merely shrugged. "We're not going to figure out anything today, give it a rest, Taichi."

"We can't just give up –" Taichi complained, but Yamato cut him off by raising his hand.

But whatever he was going to say, Mimi beat him to it.

"You know what? I agree with Yamato this time. God, you're all being _jerks_ and we're wasting our time here." She meant that _she_ was wasting her time, but she had a feeling they wouldn't take that too kindly and she no longer had the patience to be a peacekeeper. Mimi stood up, brushing down her shorts and stepping out of the circle in which they sat.

"Where do you think you're going?" Taichi asked, but Mimi did not turn to look at him.

"I'm going to sleep," she said coldly, "I don't care what you decide; just tell me in the morning."

"Mimi – we need everyone," Hikari began, but Mimi kept walking.

"I'm sure you'll manage." In retrospective, she felt rather terrible about speaking like that to Hikari, the girl certainly did not deserve such harsh treatment, especially from her. But it was so hard to be nice to her when everyone else was acting like such a bonehead. Mimi walked away, just far enough to be out of earshot but still within the vicinity. Mimi used her bag as a pillow and forced her eyes shut, barely even moving when Palmon approached her shyly.

"Mimi?" she called softly, but Mimi's eyes did not open.

"I'm asleep Palmon," she said, and her Digimon smiled before lowering herself next to her, shifting so that she could keep Mimi warm during the night.

Jyou stared after Mimi long after she disappeared, but most of them were looking uneasily at Taichi. Even Yamato's usually cold demeanor seemed to subside in the light of Mimi's little outburst. While Hikari wouldn't look at him, Sora was openly glaring at him.

"That was unnecessary," she said quietly, and he refused to meet her eye.

"It wasn't my fault," he muttered darkly.

"Mimi was right, you _were_ being a jerk," Yamato said simply, looking at his friend with a rather grim frown.

"As I recall, she called _all_ of us jerks," Taichi defended himself, though he knew it was hardly anything of a defense.

"Mimi was just upset," Takeru defended her quietly. He felt rather terrible about how they had all snapped at each other, but Taichi hadn't been the only one who had snapped at Mimi, and it hardly seemed fair.

"Well, she needs to control her temper," Jyou said loudly, crossing his arms over his chest, "She can't throw tantrums like that and expect – "

"Don't make me go back there, Kido Jyou."

Mimi's voice came loud and clear, and they all looked at Jyou as the colour rose to his face.

"Excuse – "

"Jyou," Yamato said, "Just shut up."

"What? No! This is not my fault!"

"It is no-one's fault," Hikari said, standing as well. "Mimi was right. We were being jerks and there's nothing to do for it but apologise." She turned to her brother, who was still looking away and only turned to her after it was clear she was the one he was addressing. "I know you're frustrated that we haven't any answers, but that is not Mimi's fault. Or anyone else's," the girl shrugged, "We'll figure it out."

Tai ran his fingers through his wild mane of hair, clenching his jaw in frustration. He knew his sister was right. Sora was right too – hell, even Yamato was right. He'd been a jerk, and insensitive and unfair. It was something he did sometimes, but there was very little he could do to help it. He hated not knowing what was going on; hated thinking that they had been set up; hated that he and Koushiro still suspected there were other Digidestined around; and Taichi hated knowing that he had to apologise to Mimi now, too. Probably Hikari as well.

"I'm sorry," he said as he raised his head. "I don't – well, whatever. Yeah, we'll figure it out." Taichi pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking of going to apologise to Mimi but then thought better of it. If she was awake, she'd be too angry, and if she was asleep, she'd be even angrier.

_Eh, she'll probably still be angry in the morning,_ he thought, _so what gives?_

"You guys get some sleep," he told them, "I'll take the first watch."

His friends looked at him for a moment but neither said much more than mutter their goodnights and wish each other sweet dreams. It was a long-shot, they knew, but there was not much else they could do. Hikari curled up with Tailmon not far from the fireplace, worried slightly about Mimi but confident that they'd patch things up in the morning. After all, if there was anyone who was as forgiving as Hikari, it was definitely Mimi.

The change came slowly, innocuously. So subtle was it that neither of Chosen Children or their Digimon partners noticed it at first. They were, after all, coupled with their own problems. But while the children travelled, or ate, or slept, the Digital World slowly drifted from its stupor.

It woke up with a roar.

By the time everyone had risen, Mimi, Palmon, Biyomon and Gomamon had already been foraging for food and had returned with a rather decent spread for everyone. They'd been gone for a few minutes, figuring what kind of fruit they might find around here (fruit tended to be the easiest food they could get) and had returned with armfuls of it. She had washed them carefully, placed them in a makeshift basket and was looking nervously at the cradle of fish that Gomamon had fetched for them.

"Here you go, Mimi!" he exclaimed happily, but Mimi only grimaced.

"Er – thanks, Gomamon," she muttered, wincing as she looked at the cold, dead eyes that seemed to stare back at her. She bit her lip. They didn't – _really_ expect her to gut the things, did they?

"Why don't I help you with that?"

Mimi turned around, and Sora was looking at her sheepishly, one hand rubbing her other arm.

"Oh!" she exclaimed softly, "Yes please. You're a life saver."

Sora smiled, releasing her breath. She had expected Mimi to be angry at her about last night – she had realised she hadn't really been such a great friend; but was pleasantly surprised to find that the brunette had been quick to forgive, or to forget. She knelt next to her friend and took the haul with her and Gomamon, finding someplace where she could properly gut and clean the fish.

Tentomon and Palmon returned with wooden sticks to cook the fish, and once Tailmon woke, she too helped by bringing firewood. None of them noticed that there were little birds in the sky and trees, or the little sounds that the forest made. They were all busy with making breakfast, and the buzz of activity and the sudden smell of food woke up the rest of the team.

"Oh hey," Taichi said with a yawn as he looked down at the spread before him, "You didn't have to do that," he said to Sora as he knelt down and helped her carry the firewood.

"I didn't," Sora admitted sheepishly, "It was Mimi. I was just helping."

"Oh."

Mimi had not looked up when she heard the exchange, but her frown was deeper and her lips were pursed more dangerously. _Ungrateful git,_ she thought angrily. He hadn't done anything, technically, but it really bothered her that he had immediately assumed it had been Sora's doing. As if Mimi was incapable of doing nice things, too! While it was true that the only reason she had done it was because she had woken up much earlier than them, they did _not_ need to know that.

The team ate animatedly, thanked Mimi cheerfully albeit a little awkwardly, and kept shooting nervous glances between themselves. Mimi seemed oblivious, or at least she acted like it, eating as if she had all the time in the world and smiling as though everything was okay.

The other Digidestined were not fooled. They knew that an angry Mimi was a power to be reckoned, and they were not reassured by this false calm. When she got up to wash her hands, Koushiro and the others nudged Taichi to follow her.

"Hey, stop!" he whispered, angry.

"Go say you're sorry, Taichi!" Sora ordered, "Now!"

"Okay, okay – will you stop _pushing_ me, Hikari? Jeez." He stood up, stuffing his hands inside his pockets as he walked a little ways towards where Mimi was. She was patting her hands dry, then rummaging her bag for a hairbrush – it was pink – and running it delicately through her cinnamon coloured locks. Taichi smiled a little at the gesture. Trust Mimi to worry about her hair in the midst of the Digiworld. No, scratch that; trust her to carry a hairbrush in her bag!

"Er, Mimi?"

The girl turned around, regarding him with a small smile that did not quite reach her eyes. He swallowed uncomfortably; he never knew Mimi's eyes could look quite so cold.

"Yes?"

"I just wanted to, er, apolo– " he began awkwardly, shuffling his feet.

"That's fine."

He looked up. She hadn't even let him finish!

"No, Mimi I'm so – "

"Fine."

"Mimi."

"I said _fine_."

"I'm trying to say_ I'm sorry_ here!" he said, his temper rising again. Why did she have to be so difficult? Couldn't she see what it cost him to do this?

"And I'm saying _it's fine_."

"Mimi, will you just let me apologise?"

"No!" She said, and her voice rose too. By now the others had come much closer, if only to witness what was going on, taking advantage of the fact that Mimi's back was turned to them. "I don't want your apologies – or yours," she added, scowling at where she knew their friends were hiding. They lowered their gazes, looking a little sheepish and embarrassed that she had noticed their snooping.

"I don't need them. I forgive you – _all of you_," the corner of her lips twitched into a little smirk, "Because _I'm_ a much better person than _you_ are."

It took them a little while to realise that she was absolutely serious, and Taichi thanked Heaven and whatever gods may be that he did not have the audacity to ask if she was. He rubbed the back of his neck self-consciously and offered her a smile that she only half returned. "You really are Mimi," he said with a chuckle.

"Yes, yes, I know," she said, waving an airy hand, "It'd be great if you didn't forget."

Mimi looked at the rest of them with her eyebrow raised again. "And I _still_ think you're jerks. But whatever, I'm used to you."

They all smiled, even laughed a little. Mimi was good at this sort of thing, bringing them back together with just her _attitude_. Yamato's hands were inside his pockets, and Sora was leaning gently against his arm, looking tenderly at Mimi. He looked down at her, surprised at her proximity, but did not say anything. She seemed to suddenly become aware of it too, and jumped a little, letting go of his arm.

"Ah, sorry Yamato," she muttered, but he shook his head and offered her a little smile.

"Don't – worry about it," he said quietly, blushing a little as he looked away from her, but if he hadn't, he'd have seen the little smile that was quickly growing on her lips.

It was then that they heard it.

The sound was loud, deafening, and immediately sent a jolt of panic through the group. It was a roar, louder and wilder than anything they expected and all at once, muscle memory kicked in. The Digidestined adopted defensive stances; their Digimon poised before them and ready to respond to any immediate threat.

"Keep your eyes open!" Taichi called out, his eyes darting to and fro, waiting for the source of that horrible roar to appear.

"There!" Yamato called, his finger pointing out to the two DarkTyranomon that were fast approaching. The creatures were enormous, even for Dino type Digimon, and Taichi only had to nod once to his friends before they knew what they must do.

DigiEvolution was a singularly peculiar occurrence, and even though they had seen their partner Digimon transform countless times, the Digidestined still found it amazing. Aided by their Digivices, their friends were able to evolve from their Rookie stages to Champion, and instead of the small creatures, huge and imposing monsters now stood.

Several things were happening at once.

Togemon, the giant cactus-like evolution of Palmon, was the first to attack. Showering the DarkTyranomon with her needle spray to slow them down, the others closed in for the attack. Greymon opened his huge jaws and sent flaming shots of fire at them, Kabuterimon attacking their flank with large electric shocks. The others were helping too – attacking them with all they had as the Digidestined cheered them on, dashing sideways to move out of the way and keep clear of much danger.

"Birdramon, watch out!" Sora screamed, and her Digimon turned just in time to fly out of harm's way from a rogue attack, only to return and open her large beak and send a shower of flames upon their foes.

The DarkTyranomon were strong, yes, but they were matched against five Champion-level Digimon and they would not go down without a fight. Greymon slammed his horned head against one of the monster's flank, causing him to roar out in pain and throw his head against him, pushing back with furious strength. There were jets of red fire, blue fire; showers of multi-coloured flames and zapping electric shocks and sprays of razor-sharp needles that cut through anything – there were roars, and sharp cries and many a punch thrown in by Togemon.

Togemon was the first to fall down. Being limited to close-range attacks for the most part, she had taken a good beating herself. Her form returned to Tanemon and Mimi made a run for her, despite the danger of the war zone. She could hear the others calling out for her but she didn't care – she needed to get her Digimon out of there, or else the poor radish would be crushed! Mimi reached the small Digimon, picked her up gently in her arms, trying to protect her from any fresh charge. But then the strangest thing happened, and her Digivice started glowing again just as the two DarkTyranomon were being defeated.

"Mimi!" Sora yelled, but Mimi was not listening.

She touched one of the Digimon's huge front legs and her hand burned immediately as a flash of dark energy very similar to the one they had experienced with the crests and the things that were not Digi-Eggs, erupted. It surrounded the Digimon as if it was smoking, and then altogether faded, and their data with them.

Mimi was still sitting on the floor, a few cuts and scratches on her face and knees, but otherwise okay. She was looking at her Digivice and back at the receding DarkTyranomon, and she only barely looked back when Sora's arms went around her neck, almost crying desperately that she had been so stupid to take such a risk.

"I'm sorry," Mimi said gently, patting Sora's back, "I wasn't thinking, I'm really sorry…"

"God, Mimi," Sora cried, "You are so _stupid_ sometimes, I swear!"

Jyou offered his hand, helping her up and asking if she was okay, if she wasn't injured, if she could walk on her own. She nodded, shook her head, nodded again.

"I'm sorry," she repeated, "Thank you – yes, no really, I'm _fine_," she insisted, and when they were finally satisfied, they all collapsed into an exhausted pile.

"What the hell was that?" Yamato asked, not for the first time.

"Mimi, how did you even do that?" Koushiro asked her, and she only shook her head.

"It wasn't me," she said, "It was my Digivice. It was glowing, and when I touched it," she paused, pushing her hair behind her ear, "I think I purified them. You know, like – "

"Like the dark gears," Yamato offered, and they all nodded strangely.

"This is awfully familiar…" Koushiro said, but then there was a loud laugh that broke their pensive silence.

"_Very well done, children." _

The voice was female, sounded clear and polished and if it hadn't sounded so dangerous, they would have found it pleasant.

"What? Who's there?" Taichi asked, jumping to his feet and looking around frantically even as Agumon got up.

"_Not yet, my darling,"_ the voice said again_, "You still have some time to go before we meet. But we will meet, Digidestined,"_ she paused, _"And I will destroy you."_

Just like that, the voice was gone. They all looked around, trying to find the source but were forced to conclude that it came from nowhere in specific; that it had been projected wirelessly for their benefit. Taichi looked very grave as he looked at them, his eyes cold when he spoke. "We need to get out of here," he said, "And find that woman."

They didn't move too far, just found another place to rest after that unexpected battle. They let their Digimon eat and rest; meanwhile, they discussed what had happened. Koushiro was typing away on his computer when suddenly he exclaimed happily, "I've got a message from Gennai!" The rest of the team gathered around him, all abuzz with excitement and curiosity as Gennai's digital form appeared on the screen.

"Greetings, children," he said, and they smiled at him, waving happily as their Digimon woke and did the same. The old man smiled too, looking at them curiously. "Well, _children_ might not be the appropriate word anymore, heh?" They had, after all, grown up quite a lot. And though they had certainly physically changed, Gennai was still the same old man they knew nine years ago during that fateful summer.

"It's fantastic to hear from you again, Gennai," Koushiro said with a little nod, "But why haven't you contacted us before?"

The old man looked very grave when he answered.

"I could not, Izzy. There are many things happening in the world right now, and I need to tell you as soon as possible," he explained, "But it cannot be done like this. You must come to my home, I will mark the place in your map and you will find it."

"We've been to your place before Gennai," Taichi said, "We can find it."

"The Digiworld has changed much since you were last here, Yagami Taichi," he said, "I daresay you have already realised this."

His face fell, but the old man offered him a reassuring smile.

"Just come as soon as you can," he said, "I'll fill you in when you get here. And children – be careful."

The transmission ended, and Koushiro looked up at Taichi with a very serious expression. "We need to move, Tai," he said, "He's the only one who can answer our questions."

They wasted no time. The directions that Gennai had given them had been easy enough to follow, and they agreed to allow nothing to side-track them. If done correctly, the trip should take them no more than six hours, even with rest stops. The journey was to be undertaken by foot, intending to save as much energy as possible in case they fell to any other rogue attacks. Though they hardly met any other angry Digimon, the Digidestined did not fail to notice that there were Digimon around now – actual Digimon, besides their own friends. The land seemed to be alive again, with sounds and critters and little birds. There were all sorts of creatures – most too wild to approach and get proper questions from, but they were confident that Gennai would be able to make up for them in that department.

They arrived at the specified place well into the afternoon, after the sun had beat down on them hard. They were tired and a little sore but those were small things, trivial nimieties that even Mimi had learned to live with by now. Gennai's home had originally been on File Island, set in a beautiful underwater garden. Since things had changed drastically, it seemed that the old man's home had changed coordinates, too. The map showed that they ought to follow a shady path that was thickly populated with sinister-looking trees, almost too inconspicuously hiding the entrance to a cavern. The place smelled musty, had some sort of luminous fungi growing on the walls and water dripped quietly from the stalactites on the ceiling. It was cold, and they all drew closer together, their feet shuffling awkwardly as they tried to adjust to the poor lighting offered by the few flashlights they owned.

"How much longer, Izzy?" Takeru asked, feeling hungry and tired.

"Just a couple more meters," the redhead answered reassuringly after checking his map once more. "Hang in there, guys."

"It'd be easier to – _EEEK!_" Mimi's scream was shrill, and made them all jump in surprise and flail around in fear. The girl in question was rooted to the spot, her body near convulsion with shudders and chills running down her back.

"Will you shut _up_?" Yamato asked angrily, snapping his head around to glare at the girl, who was promptly ignoring him by making some sort of scene.

"Mimi, what? What happened? Who's there? MIMI?"

They were all tripping over each other asking questions, and suddenly Mimi felt terribly self-conscious.

"It wasn't – it was just – a droplet fell down my back," she finished lamely, sure they could feel the heat radiating from her face.

Taichi seemed to want to say something, but he had just apologised to her and they had all just had that horrible fight and he really, really did not wish to deal with her drama again. He took a small breath, blowing the air through his open mouth and then sighed.

"Don't – freaking scare us like that, will you?" That came out wrong. "_Please_," he added, making a strong emphasis on the word.

Yamato huffed, turning his head to one side.

"You're a lost cause, Tachikawa," he muttered darkly, stepping in front of her and putting as much distance as he could between himself and the girl. His anger came from the fact that her screams could rouse a whole lot of danger for all of them, and more than a little came from the fact that she had screamed right into his eardrums; he was sure she destroyed them.

Mimi pursed her lips, her hands balling into fists as she stomped her way back into line, not caring one little bit about the noise she was making. She felt properly ashamed of having yelled like a madwoman, but it had been an _instinct_, not something she could control! Mimi pinched the bridge of her nose, knowing that sooner or later, Ishida Yamato would be after her blood.

It was only a while after that, perhaps an hour, by the way her stomach rumbled, that they finally stopped as Koushiro stepped on a puddle. His flashlight later revealed that this was not a puddle but a little underground pond, and as he held his Digivice in his other hand, the water started parting, allowing for a narrow staircase made of the same slippery rock that the caverns were made of.

The Digidestined went down in a single file, their Digimon trailing behind them loyally. The path was narrow and long, and there were single mushrooms lighting their way so that they would not fall, and the walk itself was considerably shorter. They emerged into a circular chamber with an opening on the ceiling, and a rusty metallic ladder attached to one side of the wall. Taichi tested the thing – it didn't look like much, but it should certainly hold their weight. Being the undisputed (for the most part) leader, he was the first up the rackety thing, and he quickly climbed until he swung his leg over the edge of an ancient stone well. It was Gennai's home alright, and Taichi smiled as he leaned into the well.

"Come on," he encouraged, "It's here."

"It is good to see you, Taichi," Gennai said with a nod, and Taichi respectfully returned it with a grin. "And you, Agumon."

Agumon had climbed behind his friend, and even as they stood there, others were coming out of the well, aided by Taichi and Agumon. When the last of them stood on the springy grass, they all turned to Gennai, who welcomed them cheerfully and led them into his house, where he had prepared a grand meal for them. They sat down gratefully at the table, and truly, they were happy to receive his hospitality.

The table bore a handsome spread – curry rice, vegetables, sweet buns and salads, a selection of beef, fish and fowl (they refused to ask where that came from), spring rolls and sushi, and all fruit they could have thought of. Gennai was a gracious host, in that he allowed his guests to eat their fill and take a rest before he got down to business. After their meal, he offered drawn baths and where to wash their clothes, and robes to wear in the meantime.

They were cleaner, better-fed and more at ease than they had been since they had set foot in the Digital World, and it was easy for them to sit back in the sitting room, a steaming cup of green tea on their hands as they looked at him anxiously, thanking them once more for his attentions. The old man smiled, telling them it was the least he could do and that they should make themselves comfortable, for they would need a while before they could go on their way again.

And thus, he spoke.

"I am sure you already have some questions for me," he said, smiling genially at Koushiro, "So let's begin with that."

"We'd like to know why we're here, and how we came here," Izzy said with a nod, "We think we have reason to think it wasn't you?"

"No, I had nothing to do with this," he explained, "You were brought here, as you have been before, by a force that is interested in what you can do for the Digiworld. I do not know who or what this force is, or whether its interest is for good, or evil." The old man paused, took a sip of his hot beverage, and set the cup back on the table. "You have been needed before to serve the various intentions of evil Digimon; I cannot tell you if this is one of those cases."

"What happened to the Digiworld?" Koushiro asked again, and Gennai looked a little graver now.

"That I can tell you," he said, "What happened, basically, is that the Digiworld was … reformatted, in a sense."

They listened attentively; they all wanted to understand what had happened to the world that they had so often visited and saved, and what they could do to make it right.

"Reformatted?"

"Let me explain. As you know, this world is the Digital counterpart to your world," he nodded towards them, "Where all the data you produce is stored. However, from time to time, things get broken or misplaced and _glitches_ or _bugs_ come along.

Now, the Digital World has a way of correcting itself, not unlike how Nature works in _your_ world. Things run smoothly for the most part, until something intervenes, some necessary file is deleted by accident and then the whole system crashes. This is what has happened. The Digital World is trying to repair itself but it can't – there are pieces of information that have gone missing, and it has lost its ability to regenerate wholly."

The old man paused, letting the children digest his words. Jyou kept sipping on his tea well after he was finished, seemingly not noticing.

"I think I understand," Koushiro said after a moment, surprising no-one. He was the closest they could get to a computer genius and since the beginning, had been their best source of knowledge in the Digiworld, second only to Gennai. "Does this mean that the Digiworld's main data has been corrupted?"

"It appears to be that way," Gennai said with a nod, but Taichi rapidly intervened before he could continue.

"Okay, so what about the Digimon? We hadn't seen any for a while – hadn't seen you either, now that I think of it…" he paused, "And then they were just going berserk at us. What's up with that?"

"Of this I have only theories," Gennai admitted, "But I am sure you do too, don't you Koushiro?"

The boy was caught a little off guard, blushing lightly, but to their surprise, he nodded.

"I actually started thinking about it after you said it," he looked at Yamato, who looked back at him only slightly confused. "How the Digiworld seeming to be turned off. I know you didn't mean anything by it, but the more I thought of it, the more it made _sense_. There was absolutely no physical – and I am using the word very lightly here – presence other than ours and our Digimon. I didn't know what to think but after this morning, well," he looked back at Gennai, "Was it?"

"Yes, Koushiro. The Digital World was shut off, its power disconnected. You need to understand that even I don't know everything about this place – there are things even I am not privy to. But what I know is that some force practically crashed the Digiworld, tried to restart it, and something went amiss.

It has messed with all the programmes – the very structure of the place is highly unstable now."

"And what about what happened with our Digivices?" Sora asked, and they told him all about their adventure, how they had thought other children were there, and what they had found instead. Gennai listened attentively and asked them no questions, but he looked supremely tired when he finally spoke.

"It would appear that your actions were the catalyst to restart the world," he admitted, though he looked a bit unsure, "When I regained my consciousness, I just knew someone had messed with the circuitry of the place. Everything is different now, and all the more dangerous because of it."

"We ran into some strange things," Taichi said again, "They weren't Digimon, exactly, but they weren't people either. But they attacked us."

"That would've been corrupted files."

"You mean a Virus?"

"No, not a Virus. There are Virus type Digimon, and they manifest themselves fully physically. These were corrupted archives, incomplete data beings. They must have infected the DarkTyranomon that you encountered earlier."

"What about that incident with our crests?" Mimi suddenly asked, and all eyes were posed on her. She usually enjoyed the attention, but in this particular case, Mimi thought she could do without so much of it. "Our crests broke in their tags, even though they're _supposed_ to be inactive."

Gennai gave this some more thought, even as he looked at the copies Izzy had printed him of the pictures Mimi had taken.

"I am not sure – this is just a wild guess, really," he said after a while, "But it looks as though the power released when you activated those corrupted Digi-Eggs –"

"Wait, wait, wait," Taichi interjected, waving his arms wildly, _"Digi-Eggs?"_

The old man raised an eyebrow, looking at the sulking young man.

"You mean those are Digi-Eggs?" Jyou repeated incredulously, as the rest of them shifted uncomfortably under the growing look in Mimi's face.

"Of course they are," Gennai said simply, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, "What did you think they were?"

They looked at Mimi, who was not looking wildly triumphant as they had expected, but instead crossed her arms over her chest, tossing her hair back at them as she turned her face away. "You're all idiots," she exclaimed, ignoring Taichi as he slapped his forehead against the table. Repeatedly.

"Is something wrong?" Gennai asked, unsure if that was the right question to make.

"Just fine," Sora assured him with a small sigh, "Some of us are just feeling a little sorrier we didn't listen to Mimi before."

"Ah," he seemed to understand, "Then you may have something interesting to add."

The brunette had not expected it, and nervously uncrossed her arms as she looked at him. It was true, she had not been able to take her mind off it, and she had a few theories of her own. "You said the energy those Digi-Eggs released was what broke our crests," Mimi said, and he nodded, encouraging her, "But I don't think so."

There were quizzical looks but Mimi ignored them, looking only at Gennai.

"And why is that?"

"Because our crests were already inactive, there was no reason for anything to break them unless," she took a small breath, pushed a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "Well, unless there's some way to activate them again."

"Very good, Mimi," Gennai exclaimed, actually clapping for her. Mimi smiled for a moment, proud that she had something useful to say, for once. Everyone was chattering around her, either murmuring their appraisal or surprise, even smiling triumphantly because that meant they had another weapon in this fight, but Mimi's smile fell just as quickly as it had come.

"Oh no," she said, looking at Koushiro, who seemed to have been deep in thought and looked at her just as she did. "That means …"

"That the crests are corrupted now, aren't they?" Koushiro asked quietly. The question was aimed at Gennai and he only nodded, looking at both of them.

They all fell silent but looked at Mimi expectantly, as if she should be the one to explain. But she had nothing else to say, nothing good or clever or even particularly sensible. Koushiro crossed his arms, his mouth opening before he even thought of it.

"Do you know how we can fix them?"

"Not any more than I know how to fix the rest of the damaged files," Gennai admitted. "But I have some ideas. It's why I brought you here, to help me develop them. I think we could find a way for you to get out of this nasty mess."

"Can you tell us anything about who's behind this?" Jyou asked.

"We heard a woman speaking before, claiming she wanted to destroy us." Yamato added with a low grumble, "What else is new?"

Gennai shook his head. "With the whole Digiworld deactivated, I have very limited knowledge of our current enemy. Give it a few days, by the time Izzy and I have figured something out in regards to your crests, maybe someone else will have answers for you."

Gennai stood, looking at the young men and women before him with an understanding smile. "You should rest; take the rest of the evening off. You'll have plenty to do come tomorrow."

They understood that it was not a dismissal and some of them returned the smile, others just nodded. Mimi stayed back for a moment, finishing the last of her cold tea before lying down very still on the wooden floor. Her honey-hued eyes were fixed on the ceiling and she held her hand out as though trying to trace the white lines above her. Everything that they had talked about weighed heavily in her mind, making her feel as though she hadn't slept in days, but she was not sleepy.

She barely noticed when Taichi lied on the floor next to her, his wild mane of brown hair suddenly appearing in the corner of her eye.

"The floor isn't really comfortable," he commented lightly.

"No, it's really not," Mimi answered, not able to help a tiny, tiny smile as she scrambled to her feet, "Come on, Taichi."

**o – o - o**

She was sitting on the front porch, her legs dangling from the wooden platform as she looked out into the ornamental ponds in Gennai's garden. The water was pink, a soft, feminine colour that went better with Mimi or Hikari than it did with her. Biyomon was running around with Palmon, almost as if they had not been fighting today and were not exhausted. Sora sighed audibly.

"What are you thinking of?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice, the colour rising rapidly to her cheeks.

"Yamato," she acknowledged, not turning to see him, "I'm just – worrying about this." She shrugged. "Everything we said in there, it sounds awfully complicated when you think about it again."

He had come closer and it was then that she chanced to look at him. He was wearing his clothes again and he smelled nice, like freshly pressed laundry.

"It's always complicated for us," he said quietly, looking up at the sky. Gennai's home was in an underwater lake and had multiple passages (they knew at least two) that lead to it. But being underwater did not limit its potential for strangeness and beauty. The sky, which logically should not have existed, was of a deep burgundy with gold and violet streaks marring it in a rather artsy way. Yamato liked it here, and found himself wishing that they'd stay just a few more days, if only to watch those skies for a little while…

"I guess … there's no reason why we shouldn't be able to handle it."

His gaze fell to Sora, who quickly looked away, making the corner of his lips twitch. It had been around five years since certain … _feelings_ had been expressed, and the girl still had trouble holding eye-contact for too long. Yamato stuffed his hands inside his pockets, letting out a small breath.

"Yeah…"

"Hey, Yamato," she called.

"Hmm?"

"Being back here, it really puts everything in perspective, doesn't it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, the things that were important to us back home, they don't matter much here, do they?"

Yamato opened his mouth, then closed it. He thought he knew where she was going with that but he could not – would not let her. "No, it's not that," he said, "It's just –"

"Complicated, yes," she finished for him.

He pressed his lips together, determined not to let that get to him. Sora stood sometime later, announcing unnecessarily that it was cold and she was going to bed. Yamato only nodded, or maybe he didn't, but the girl was gone and he was alone, feeling colder after she left.

Jyou came around the corner, stopping to see Yamato standing there idly, too busy sulking to do anything else. He half smiled, raising a hand. "Mind if I join you?"

Yamato only shrugged. He retrieved his old harmonica and brought it to his lips. The melody came to him without thinking, without asking – the kind of music that did not beg to be heard, but demanded it.

Jyou took a seat, leaning with his shoulder against one of the wooden columns. He didn't need to talk – didn't even need Yamato to talk, he just wanted the sort of company that would not ask and would let him think quietly for a while. The music Yamato was offering him was soothing, a lighthearted blues that made him feel nostalgic but also a little hopeful, and he was impressed, not for the first time, at the younger man's musical talent. Jyou himself possessed none of it, but he was surprisingly good on his feet, and really quite enjoyed it.

"Jyou!"

Mimi's voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the music as if she had screamed. Yamato ignored her at first, continuing his melody a fraction of a second after he had paused, closing his eyes against the vision of her.

The girl stood watching him for a moment, absorbed in the sounds he was producing from the old brass harmonica. No matter how many times she heard him, she was always a little surprised at how well he expressed himself through music. She lowered herself on the floor unceremoniously, resting her back against Jyou's and closing her eyes with a small smile. The first time she had heard him playing had been a long time ago, when she was just a little girl with a pink cowgirl hat and he had been a little boy with a major attitude problem. It made her smile to think of it; even then his presence, when playing, had been soothing.

"Why were you looking for me?" the blue-haired man asked, and Mimi shrugged as she tore her eyes from Yamato's figure.

"Hikari said you weren't feeling well," she answered truthfully; "I just wanted to check up on you."

"I'm fine. Just tired," he sighed, "Corrupted data and _Digi-Eggs_, really," he chuckled, "I should've been studying for an anatomy test, you know."

"Lucky you," she said, and the superior only sighed, because Mimi did not understand that he had been looking forward to this test – he was sure he'd forget all about it and then, _when they came back_ – Jyou shook his head to himself. He didn't even know if they'd be back, and here he was, thinking about exams…

The faith that came so easily to others was a bit tougher on Kido Jyou. They had accepted this new adventure easily, had risen up to the occasion as best as they could have hoped. He was loads better than the first one, yes, but still – still Jyou could not be certain that it was going to be _just another one_ of their fantastic adventures. The sheer magnitude of the task that lay before them made his knees go weak, despite how hard he wanted to be strong for his friends.

But then, with Mimi's warm back as his support, Jyou thought that maybe, just maybe, they could be strong for him too. The thought cheered him up, and after Yamato's song ended, he gently pushed himself off Mimi, pressing a warning hand to her shoulder. The girl shifted and took the hand he offered to help her up, dusting down her robe (it had been much too warm to change into her own clothes), and offered him a cheerful smile. Jyou muttered his good-night to Yamato, and Mimi quickly followed, only hesitating a second before leaving his line of view for the night.

"You know … you're not half bad when you're not yelling at me," she said, leaving before he could reply.

Yamato had been quiet, but before she disappeared entirely he brought the instrument back to his lips, the tune somehow a little more cheerful, a little less nostalgic.


	6. Alekhine's Gun

**Author's Note:** Happy New Year!

I am incredibly sorry for the long wait. This chapter just gave me a real hard time at the end, but I think I'm quite pleased with how it turned out. I really hope the wait was worth it for you, so please feel free to comment or critique at the end. Again, thank you so much for your sweet reviews! They have made me very happy and I hope I keep entertaining you as the story progresses.

Alekhine's gun: (chess movement) a formation in which a queen backs up two rooks on the same file.

* * *

><p>As it was promised, the next couple of days the Digidestined spent at Gennai's home were very busy, and even if they weren't hiking or camping outside, they all went to bed tired and spent. Koushiro and Gennai had been working nonstop in the development of a program that might help them figure out what to do in this new and unstable Digiworld, with occasional collaboration from the rest of the team to tweak some thing or another. The program was meant to be highly intuitive and thus required the input of less technologically-inclined users, and their contribution turned out to be surprisingly useful. Taichi listened as intently as he could as they explained that, should it work correctly, it would help them track the energy released by the Digi-Eggs, which was about the biggest lead they had at the moment. Taichi didn't really understand how it was supposed to track energy traces, but he thought it sounded like a fantastic idea nonetheless.<p>

Despite not being wholly dedicated to Izzy's project, the rest of them had found ways to make use of their time. Jyou and Yamato had been studying digital maps with Gabumon and Gomamon, figuring out the new landscape of the Digiworld to acquaint themselves to all possibilities. Besides tracing possible travel routes, they had taken an interest in mapping unusual Digimon activity in the nearby areas, making a note to bring that up during their evening sessions.

Mimi and Sora had spent some time with Palmon and Biyomon raiding Gennai's stores (at his insistence) and were filling out all available bags with medical supplies and emergency food and items. Hikari and Takeru made themselves useful by studying Gennai's archives and trying to figure out the mystery behind the dark Digi-Eggs, and what that could mean in terms of possible evolutions. Tailmon and Patamon offered their own ideas, but at the end of each day they all agreed that not much progress had been made.

Still, a comfortable bed and consistently good food did wonders for their spirits and strength; by the time a week had passed, they were all completely recuperated.

It was one such occasion where Sora was carefully going through a list she'd made with Jyou's help about possibly useful items they could acquire with Gennai's help and Mimi was leaning on a table, idly curling her hair around one finger. She was bored, and being bored usually made her irritated, but Sora was having none of that, ignoring her constant sighs and sly attempts at getting out of the house. She shifted in her seat and had a good view of the adjoining room, the one where Yamato and Jyou spent so much time poring over maps and making annotations that the superior had attempted to explain to her a couple of nights before but only ended up lulling her to sleep. Mimi had apologised, but she was quite sure that he still felt slightly stung. Her gaze fell then on the other young man, who was leaning so casually over the wooden surface of the table, watching the whole thing with feigned disinterest.

"Hey Sora," she murmured, her eyes still fixed on the blonde.

"Mhm?"

"I haven't seen you and Yamato together in a while. Anything happened?"

Her question was posed so carelessly, so sincerely, that Sora almost felt bad for her heart leaping to her throat and how she stumbled against her own tongue to answer. "No," she finally said, the word coming out a little more curtly than she would have liked, "Not at all. I don't know what you're talking about. We spend just enough time together, all of us do." It wasn't strictly true, but she refused to talk about this with Mimi, regardless of the fact that she was still her best friend. The truth was that she had been avoiding Yamato since the day they had that strange argument that hadn't been really an argument but … had been _something_. Sora liked Yamato very much, but there was always something about him, something between them – something _complicated_. She pursed her lips as she thought of their last conversation, and how he hadn't bothered to find her afterwards, had not made the slightest indication that it had happened at all. It bothered her so much, but she did not know how to bring it up without imposing or falling into another fight.

Mimi's eyebrow rose, and her eyes narrowed slightly at the girl's reaction. "Right," she said, deciding not to mention that before they came here, they were always sitting next to each other, walking around together or even sharing watches. She knew that her acceptance of it would irk Sora as well, and she was sort of counting on her for that.

"Anyway, what about you? You've barely said a word to him since we got here."

Both of Mimi's eyebrows went up this time, in genuine surprise. A wry smile touched her lips. "Where's the novelty in that?"

Sora frowned. "I swear, the way you two talk about each other… it's like you don't even try." She shook her head but Mimi's breath had caught a little and she looked at the blonde again, suddenly feeling a little weird.

"Ya – Ishida talks about me? I'm shocked." Mimi said, her surprise palpable in the simple question.

It was Sora's turn to feel awkward. True, Mimi's name wasn't one to often fall from Yamato's lips, but they had breezed over her once or twice, and it had never been more than a few words, a few comments, polite interest or indifferent, almost casual acceptance.

"I don't mean it like that," Sora said, shaking her head, unsure of what she didn't mean, "I mean, whenever you come up, he barely has anything to say."

"Eh, well," Mimi was frowning slightly, knowing this put her in a rather uncomfortable position. "It's nothing personal," she began, "I think we're just … not suitable for a friendship." Wrong. Mimi had once thought they'd be exceptionably suited for a friendship, but it was the sort of thing that she couldn't really explain to Sora. She wasn't even sure how to explain it to herself, really. Mimi didn't forget how, when she had been only ten years old and Taichi had been a rather thoughtless idiot, Yamato had been the only one to understand her need to grieve over the friends that had sacrificed themselves to help them during that first, terrifying Digimon adventure. She remembered how he'd offered to take her turn to watch that night, telling her that grieving was the honorable thing to do and that Taichi was just a little slow when it came to those things.

"_You can't sleep?" a ten year-old Mimi had asked an eleven year-old Yamato as she saw him walk towards where she and Palmon were sitting next to a roughly made fire. The boy shook his head. They were silent for a moment, and then Mimi spoke again. "The sky looks really lovely tonight, doesn't it?"_

_Yamato looked up, then shrugged. "Starry."_

_She nodded, oblivious or uncaring about his indifference. "Beautiful..."_

"_You should go inside," Yamato then said, ignoring her words and avoiding her gaze as he spoke. "I can take your watch. Can't sleep anyway."_

_Mimi looked down, shaking her head. "I wanted first watch," she admitted quietly, "I can't really sleep either…" She didn't want to sleep just yet, knowing that she'd have nightmares if she did. She didn't tell Yamato this, knowing he'd scoff and tell her she was being a silly little girl or something worse - and after defending her that day, Mimi was eager not to ruin whatever little camaraderie had sprung between them. "Do you think it was silly, Ishida-san?" she asked, her voice quieter than before._

_The boy looked down at her for a moment, stuffing his hands inside his pockets. His answer was short when it came, a perfunctory "no", spoken only a fragment louder than her question. "It was the right thing to do. Taichi … he doesn't understand things like that." Mimi looked up at him and he offered her a small half-smile. "He doesn't really think about those things, you know?"_

_Mimi didn't know, but she found she didn't care. She wasn't angry at Taichi, just hurt and grieving and desperately needing a friend. Ishida-san wasn't holding her hand or offering her candy but she understood that, in that moment, he was offering her exactly what she needed. "Maybe we can share watch tonight," she said, a small smile playing on the corners of her lips. Yamato didn't smile again, simply nodding and sitting next to her, not exactly close. She thought they'd stay up talking but he did not say another word for the night, taking out his harmonica and choosing to let that speak instead._

_And Mimi had found that she didn't mind that at all._

"It's strange," Sora said, bringing Mimi back from her little trip down memory lane.

The brunette shook her head gently. "Nah," she said with a yawn, "It works. Listen, I'm to go help Jyou."

"Bother, you mean," Sora quipped with a wry smirk.

"_Assist,"_ Mimi corrected her friend as she made towards the door, leaving Sora to stew on her feelings for a little while.

"How's the map-gazing going?"

Jyou hadn't noticed her presence until she spoke practically into his ear, looking over his shoulder at the map he was currently bending over. The blue-haired boy jumped a little, startled.

"Mimi," he said with exasperation, "You can't just startle people like that," he continued, "It's not polite."

Mimi rolled her eyes. "It's not like I was sneaking up on you," she bit out, "Sora just thought you could use some help. Besides, Ishida saw me, didn't you?"

It was the first time she had acknowledged him directly in a while, and the blonde boy just looked at her for a second before shrugging. "I honestly don't know how you didn't hear her, Jyou," he said, "She's so _loud._"

Her cheeks burned so bright that Jyou could practically feel the heat coming from them, and he only raised an eyebrow at Yamato. He really didn't want to get in the middle of this, but it was a certain thing that Yamato's words tended to have a little _edge_ whenever it came to Mimi.

"_What?"_ She was all but glaring at him and if he cared, he was making a very good impression of not doing so.

Yamato looked back at her serenely, raising an insolent eyebrow. "What? You _are_ loud."

"Oh, forget it," she snapped, "I can't deal with you right now."

She turned on her heel and left, throwing her hair petulantly over her shoulder and, in Jyou's humble opinion, making quite an effort to stomp much louder than strictly necessary. Jyou stared after her, but Yamato had gone back to gazing at maps, acting for the world as if nothing had happened.

Jyou opened his mouth but before he could get his question out, Yamato had tossed the marker on the table and straightened up. "I'm tired," he announced, "Maybe we can look at these later." It wasn't posed as a question, but Jyou was quick to nod.

"Sure, sure…"

It was no use staying here on his own, so after Yamato left, Jyou gathered the things they'd been using and placed them neatly on a shelf, going off to find Gomamon and muttering something about children and their capriciousness, under his breath.

-x-

Yamato had meant to go to Sora, he really had. But when he gazed past the door and saw her face he had somehow convinced himself that it was a better idea to let her work and not get in her way. He sighed, wishing not for the first time that he could get his hands on a cigarette. If whatever evil out there did not kill him, his anxiety would. He walked outside, careful to avoid being seen by Gabumon or anyone else lest they decide to follow him, thinking of Tachikawa and how strange it'd been to hear her snap quite so violently at him. If he was asked, Yamato could answer truthfully that he had not expected that. He hadn't meant his comment to sound quite so rude, she had to know that – but no, he forgot the girl was not used to hearing anyone speak to her with anything less than sheer, unadulterated adoration.

It wasn't even she that he was irritated at, he now reckoned, she'd just been there, and then she had mentioned Sora and he'd had an urge to make her stop talking. Yamato pushed his hair back, sighing loudly. He wasn't really sure why they couldn't be civil more than a couple of days at a time. That Mimi had a tendency to irritate him was a fact, yes, but he didn't really dislike her for that. Taichi pissed him off on a daily – _hourly_ basis, and he was his best friend. But there was something about Tachikawa that completely unnerved him, and despite their many (and there were certainly many) attempts at a friendship, there was a final wall they could never break through. And every time either of them made a move forward, the other took two steps back.

He sighed, lying down beneath a tree. Tachikawa was impossible, and Yamato didn't think he could deal with the impossible anymore.

-x-

It had been eight days since they had arrived at Gennai's home when Izzy announced that the program was finished and ready to run. They were sprawled around the sitting room, eyes fixed on the young redhead and Gennai's smiling face.

"I'll just need to sync all of our Digivices with the program in my laptop, and each will be activated when we come within range of our respective crest energy," Koushiro explained, "We won't be getting any readings here, because Gennai's home seems to exist in a sort of Digital limbo, but it should work perfectly once we're back on the surface."

"Very impressive, Izzy," Taichi congratulated him, "I really don't know what we'd do without you."

Izzy blushed furiously but was pleased by the easy compliment.

"It's nothing," he murmured, averting his eyes.

Mimi, who had been actually lying down on the floor, her hair flowing graciously in fragrant rivulets, laughed a little. "Don't be modest Kou," she said sweetly, "We'd be absolutely lost without you. Taichi, more so."

"Hey!" Taichi exclaimed, "I resent that."

The gang chuckled slightly at the exchange; Sora shook her head at her friend's low growl and how childish he looked with his arms crossed over his chest. Koushiro chuckled, appreciative of how much his friends valued him. Truth be told, he was only too happy to help in any way or form.

He cleared his throat.

"Er, yes, _well,_" he continued, "As I was saying, I just need your Digivices to upload their data to the program and we'd be good to go." It was an easy process and he began to do it at once, the devices set on the table next to his laptop. Meanwhile, Yamato and Jyou showed them the map they'd been working on and where they were in terms of what the Digiworld had been before.

"Ok, so we already knew that the landscape had changed, right?" Jyou asked.

They all nodded.

"Well, it's a little more complicated than that. It isn't just that the landscape has expanded considerably," he said, "It has been completely mixed up. Taichi, you appeared somewhere around here," he marked an 'x' with a red marker. "Mimi was here – Sora up here; Yamato, Hikari and Takeru over here," he kept marking spots on the map, signaling the places where they had first awoken in the Digiworld. "And Koushiro and myself here and here." There were six red 'x's marking these spots, all set within the same continent. "We had originally thought this was Server," the blue-haired boy continued, pushing his glasses further up his nose. "But it just as well could be Folder, because some places, like the desert and that mountain range are just way off the map. Whatever we learned of the Digiworld all these years – well, it just won't work this time." Jyou shook his head slowly, a dejected smile visible on his lips for half a second.

"It doesn't matter though," Yamato intervened, "We'll just have to get by like the first time," he smirked. "By word of mouth." The very first time they had been in the Digiworld they had to get their directions from other Digimon friends they found in the way, which was how they had come to know the entire place. The second generation of Digidestined had been luckier in the sense that they'd had them to mentor them, provide insight and asses them through many of their missions. But this time, the original eight were on their own and as blind as that summer day when their adventure began. "Good news is, we do have clear knowledge of the landscape. You know, where to find mountains, rivers, lakes, the ocean – and how to get from one continent to another. We suspect File Island would be somewhere around here," – he circled an entire archipelago of islands that were quite literally an ocean away. Yamato shrugged again. "We think it might be a good idea to check it out, so that would be a general direction to take."

Sora frowned. "File Island … it does look very far, but I suppose that if we find anything about the crests on the way, it could work," she finally said.

"Well, that's the idea," Jyou interjected, "Deciding on a point B, you know."

Mimi jumped up quite suddenly, startling Takeru, who had been sitting right next to her sprawling form.

"Mimi!"

"I'm sorry," she said hurriedly, "I just remembered something!" She ran out of the room but came back before they had time to be properly indignant about her interruption. She was carrying something that looked like a little notebook on her hand, and she handed it over to Jyou, who looked puzzled.

"I had forgotten I had my tablet," she said in a rush, "You can download the maps there and then we might have a backup in case we get separated." She shrugged.

Jyou's eyebrows rose and fell quickly. "That's a great idea Mimi," he said with a smile, feeling only a little sorry at how surprising he found that. He grinned. "Thanks."

Mimi sat down again, this time leaning idly against Taichi. He didn't seem to mind her proximity, offering a little smile to no-one in particular as she nestled against his shoulder.

"Does this mean we're leaving soon?" Hikari then asked, and Taichi crossed his arms, careful not to disturb Mimi when he shrugged.

"I think we've found as much as we can," he said.

"Sora and I packed all sorts of things already," Mimi chirped in, "Gennai was kind enough to lend us some rucksacks to carry them. So we're ready to go when you say the word."

Taichi nodded, then raised his eyes to Hikari. "Did you two find anything about the Digi-Eggs?" He looked slightly uncomfortable for a moment, his lip twitching as he avoided looking at Mimi out of the corner of his eye.

Hikari shook her head. "We haven't found anything yet," she answered, "I mean, there are whole trees of evolution so we can't really predict anything. That is, if it's even possible," she looked at Gennai, who was sitting down placidly as he watched the discussion before him. "Even Gennai said we can't be sure it's what we should be looking out for."

"Either the information is too new," Takeru said, "Or too old. We couldn't find anything on Digi-Eggs that looked remotely like what we found." The young blonde shrugged, looking a little worried. "They could've been created by whoever brought us here, for all we know."

"Well," Taichi began, "We can leave tomorrow, if that's okay with you, Gennai."

The old man nodded. "Of course," he said, "I will try to keep in touch and will let you know if I find anything else that might be useful for your task." He paused. "The Digiworld has become a dangerous place, now more than ever. I believe you two have been on that these past few days?"

Yamato was frowning, but he nodded. "We haven't a clue," he answered truthfully, "But there's been a lot of Digimon activity in areas we had initially assumed deserted. Pretty sure it's been violent, too."

Gennai stood, clasping his hands behind his back. "Evil stirs throughout the Digiworld," he said calmly, "It seems that whoever or whatever is responsible for it has found a way to deploy their dark aura without catching anyone's attention. During the time we were out, its influence grew considerably, and the Digiworld has deteriorated accordingly."

"It would explain how the world seemed almost dead when we first got here," Takeru said.

"But how come we didn't notice, Gennai?" Patamon asked, its face screwed up in confusion.

"I'm still trying to figure that out, Patamon. "I have some theories, but I really, truly hope to be wrong." He paused, and his benevolent smile appeared again. "You have grown up considerably, children," he smiled, "And you have turned into remarkable young men and women. And while I am most confident that you can figure this out, I must insist that you be careful."

Perhaps he knew that they needed his words, or perhaps he didn't. But after Gennai spoke there was a renewed vigor in the youngsters, their conviction just a little stronger now. If it hadn't already been late afternoon, they'd have marched right out then and there. As it was, the children, as Gennai fondly referred to, and their Digimon were finally dismissed from their activities.

The mood should've been tenser but the fact was that they were rather wired up and ready to take on the troubles of an entire world. At least, that was what they felt like. They tried to enjoy their last day at Gennai's home and rest as much as they could. Neither of them said it but they knew it was likely they wouldn't count with quality food and warm beds for a long, long time. Humans and Digimon alike took to bed early, even Koushiro turned in at a decent hour, and only Gennai remained awake for a long time, wondering what new horrors possibly awaited them.

-x-

They left in the early morning, when the wind was chilly and the sun was not yet high. Those who had not brought bags with them to the Digiworld were now carrying rucksacks that Mimi and Sora had filled with various food items and useful things. They had decided to leave Gennai's home the same way they had come, intending to explore the continent thoroughly before they made their trip towards what Yamato and Jyou thought was File Island.

The cavern was as cold and damp as it had been that time eight days ago, and Mimi pulled her hat down her ears to avoid any drops of water falling down her back. Already, the impossibility of the task ahead seemed imminent. They were walking out on the only thing that was familiar in this new and hostile Digital World but the truth was that they were also curious to discover the mysteries behind this new adventure. And some, like Taichi, were actually _excited_ to do so.

When they finally emerged they were shuddering from the dampness in the caverns and squinting in the suddenly bright morning sun. Taichi shook his head, trying to adjust his eyes to the light. "Come on," he told them as he shrugged his rucksack on again, "Let's get these puppies working." He tossed his Digivice into the air and then caught it, not surprised that it hadn't gone off yet. Koushiro had told them that they'd need to get away from Gennai's immediate territory, as it interfered with the wireless signals their Digivices were trying to pick up.

Yamato stretched his arms and yawned as he shouldered his bag and started walking next to Taichi. "Lead the way, goggle-head," he muttered, stuffing his hands inside his pockets. "We've got a long way to go." Gabumon was placidly walking next to him, guffawing at something Agumon had said that had Taichi rolling his eyes at them.

The day was bright, but cool and breezy, and their walk was much more pleasant than they had expected, not much happening in the couple of hours they had advanced. Taichi had walked a little ways ahead, and suddenly broke into a light sprint and climbed a rock. He took out the telescope he'd found at Gennai's house and squinted through it, his face breaking into a grin.

"Hey guys!" he said happily, "I think it's a Tanemon village, right up there!"

"Tanemon?" Palmon asked, her leafy hands touching her cheeks as she swirled in place, "That sounds lovely!"

"Let's go say hi." Mimi smiled widely.

"Yeah!" her Digimon partner answered, even as she quickened her pace to catch up with Taichi. The village was not too far ahead of them, they could make out the tiny houses from their vantage point above the hill, but it would still take them a little while to get there. Finding the village was exciting because it was the first sign of healthy Digimon that had come across them since they had come weeks ago, and the idea made them more hopeful than they dared admit.

"This looks normal enough," Gomamon said, "You think they've seen anything?"

Jyou only shrugged as the little green radish-looking Digimon smiled widely when they saw them approaching, jumping up and down and rushing to greet the curious strangers. They were small, adorable and with the energy of never-ending batteries, they were assaulting them with questions and quirky remarks from the moment they set foot inside the perimeter of their village.

"Oh my!" they exclaimed, "There hasn't been any human children here in so long!"

"Are you really human children? You're huge!"

"Show us your powers, ooh!"

"Come play with us!"

"Please _stay_!"

Mimi and Hikari were delighted, carrying as many of the adorable creatures as they could, while the others stopped for a rest and to get some information from the locals. "Hey little guys," Sora said kindly, "We were wondering if any of you knew something about … you know, all that's been going on." It wasn't much of an encouragement, but it was difficult, talking to baby Digimon and expecting them to answer formally or even usefully at all.

"Oh, well…" they shifted uncomfortably, looking around as though afraid they'd be overheard, but there was no-one else that they could see or hear. "Can't say we do. But a Leomon came by a couple of days ago, telling us not to head past the Digital Forest. He was in a pretty bad shape, too."

"Leomon?" Mimi asked, looking hopeful and then worried at once. They had made friends with a Leomon once, many years ago. But it was hard keeping track of all their friends, especially since it had been such a long time since they were last in here. Still, if it _was_ their Leomon…

"We don't know much more than that," one of them said apologetically, "Just that Digimon keep bringing in terrible stories from the other side."

"What kind of stories?" Agumon asked.

They looked at each other in confusion, but the Tanemon were huddling together in terror, as if speaking of them was unthinkable. "Stories about evil Digimon taking over the Digiworld," one of them dared answer, "They say Digimon are being enslaved and – _deleted_, for no reason at all. Out of the blue, too!"

"Who's doing that?" Taichi asked darkly, voicing what all his friends were wondering. Despite the fact that they'd been up against crazy Digimon before (and there was that nasty incident with the Digimon Emperor a few years back, too) but it never failed to surprise him how seemingly inexhaustible these bad guys were. No matter how many times they beat them, they always managed to come back for more.

"We don't know," one Tanemon said. "We've only heard from passing Digimon. Ever since we came to we've been here, almost cut off from the rest of the Digiworld…"

Taichi exchanged a look with the rest of them, and only tried to dismiss the sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. Here they were, barely started into their journey and already, there was a new band of digi-mentals wreaking havoc in the Digiworld. The Digidestined thanked the Tanemon for their help and assured them that they'd do anything in their hands to bring these Digimon to justice, promptly making their departure.

"Do you think these guys have anything to do with us being here?" Takeru asked, and Koushiro was the one to answer this time.

"I am positive they are."

"They fit the profile, don't they? Big, bad, enslaving Digimon, throwing the world into chaos …" Jyou ran his hand through his hair, sighing. "These Digimon have _got_ to learn how to learn to live peacefully."

"Wouldn't be our Digital World without a few rogue Digimon trying to take over every once in a while," Gomamon said with a careless shrug, making Jyou sigh.

"You're impossible…"

"So Jyou," Taichi began, prompting the older guy's attention, "Digital Forest?"

"Oh, yes," he scrambled to get a hold of a map from inside his pocket. "We just need to keep our north," he said. "We should be there in some two-three hours?" He looked at their frowning faces and chanced a half-smile. "Maybe four."

-x-

It had been four.

The Digital Forest was an expansive landmass of evergreens and other trees that vaguely resembled the trees commonly found in the physical world. It was big but the trees did not seem to be as closely knit as the forest Yamato and Mimi had first been stranded in, nor did it seem as treacherous and mysterious as that one. Despite this, none of the Digidestined or their Digimon forgot the Tanemon's warning that following that path would lead into trouble, as it so often did when it concerned them. Knowing that this could hardly be avoided, they decided that whatever qualms they had about going in (they kept thinking of Yamato's and Mimi's impasse) were probably not strong enough to attempt going around it. Surprisingly, Mimi and Taichi were the very first to admit they wanted to go in and look for Leomon, which at the end seemed to be the most convincing argument. It wasn't just about finding an ally, but also a friend.

Slowly, without them really realising it, there was a familiarity growing within the group, so that with each passing day they became more like their former selves – the Digital heroes that they had been more than once. This was never more evident than when they chanced a look at Taichi, who had so easily fallen into the 'unspoken, hotheaded-and-almost-self-imposed leader' role; frequently clashing with Yamato, 'the would-be-leader-if-he-could-make-decisions-without-brooding-now-and-then'. Mimi and Palmon looked as though they had never separated, and they were often heard laughing or cooing at something or other, much to the others' amusement or chagrin, depending on the situation. Though Mimi had been assigned to the care of supplies as well, Sora ended up being the one worried about them more often than not, an attitude that surprised absolutely no one.

Jyou still seemed to be unsure of how he felt about the whole 'adventure' business, often rambling about the dangers of plunging into an unknown world that seemed to have a never-ending supply of horrors and violence in store for them, and being the quiet, level-headed part of the triumvirate that seemed to serve as leadership icon. Takeru and Hikari had an easier time falling into this familiarity, because they remained the ones most in contact with the Digital World, though they would often miss their other friends.

Koushiro was considering all of this, wondering why they hadn't run into any other Digidestined – he'd been sure they'd be there. After all, Wallace had been experiencing the same strange occurrences with his Digivice, and so had Miyako and Ken, as far as he knew. The question still bothered him, and he was having trouble admitting that there was nothing he or Gennai could do, so far, to solve it. The fact that his friends had so many questions that he had no answers to was slowly but surely getting to him. He had been so tuned out of the conversation that he barely had chance to stop himself before running straight into Sora's back.

"What?" he asked, looking around in confusion, "Why did we stop?"

Then he saw it.

They were well into the forest when he saw the small Digimon dwellings, burned right to the ground. There had been a village there once but they could only guess, because the place was absolutely unrecognizable. The entire space was covered with soot and ashes, and there were even some smoking cinders around. The trees around the considerable clearing were torn right out of the ground, their trunks snapped in halves as if they were toothpicks, the branches and leaves dead and smelled of rotten.

"What happened here?" Hikari said, her eyes round and wide in fear and apprehension.

But where her eyes had widened, her brother's had narrowed dangerously.

"We're about to find out."

Before anyone could stop him, Taichi had already dashed through the scene with Agumon tailing him closely.

"Taichi!" Hikari called out to her brother, but he'd had a head start and he was the fastest one in the group, being the most athletic of them.

Right at that moment, Taichi was considering that he should have probably thought this through a little more. The ruins extended in a large perimeter, and he clenched his jaw as he saw the extent of the destruction. And there, in the midst of a pile of rubble, ashes and broken things stood a girl. She was young, younger than Hikari, even, and wearing the strangest clothes Taichi could imagine. Her dress was a priestly garment, white and decorated with golden thread in the form of crosses. She was wearing matching boots that rose up to her knees and the collar of her dress looked more like a nun's robes than a dress … but the truly admirable accessory she wore was the pink bunny klobuk that gave her appearance a childish, almost ridiculous look.

"Uh, hey?" Taichi asked, unsure of what he should do now.

"Eeeek!" she squealed, pointing a finger at him, "What – what are you doing here?"

"I was about to ask you that," he answered, a lopsided smile playing on his lips. "Were you here when this happened?"

"I – what?" she looked around, only now seeming to notice the destruction that surrounded them. The girl blushed furiously, shaking her head as she took a few tentative steps away from Taichi. "I – no, I don't …" but she could never finish, because a loud scream interrupted her.

"Taichi!"

It was Sora, rushing to meet Taichi with a punch on the arm.

"Ow! Sora, what the hell?" he muttered angrily, his hand rising to rub the spot where she had hit him. For a girl, Sora could really pack a punch. He refrained from saying so, fearing that might anger her more.

"You _idiot!_ You don't run away from us! You could've run into trouble, Taichi, or had to fight some crazy monster or – "

"Hey, I'm right _here_," Agumon piped in angrily, "I would've defended Tai!"

"No-one's arguing that, Agumon," Sora said exasperatedly, "But you still shouldn't go off on your own, it's dangerous and – who is she?" It was only now that Sora noticed the girl who was cowering from them, trying to sneak away without their notice.

"I dunno," Taichi said immediately, "I was just trying to get to that, Sora."

"Oh, hey," she said, "How did you get here? Are you hurt?" Sora tried to approach the girl but her movements and the commotion that overcame them once the others arrived startled her and she hid behind a broken down tree. At that point, everyone else had caught up with them and were looking at the girl curiously, trying to gently goad her out of hiding.

"It's okay," Hikari called, "We're here to help. Please come out."

Her voice, gentle as ever and her friendly disposition may have been the thing to convince her, for the girl shyly peeked out from behind the tree and nodded slowly as Hikari walked closer to her. Once the girl was out in the open and they could chance a good look at her, they realised a couple of things were off. First and most obviously, her clothes resembled nothing they'd ever seen on a normal, human child (though Mimi gasped audibly at the sight of the bunny klobuk). Then it was the fact that she was right there, seemingly alone and unable to tell them how she had gotten there. And the last thing was the excessively menacing-looking triple-pronged cross barbée lance that she was carrying in her right hand.

"That's not a girl!" Tentomon exclaimed suddenly, "That's Sistermon!"

"Sistermon?" Hikari turned her head to one side, still smiling. "Is that your name?"

The girl – or rather, the Digimon, looked affronted for a moment, hiding her face from them. "It's Sistermon Blanc, actually," she said quietly.

"Okay, Sistermon Blanc," Sora said, "Can we call you Blanc?"

"No," the Digimon answered, throwing her a filthy look that certainly did not belong to someone looking her age. Then again, it was impossible to tell just how old she really was.

"What are you doing here, Sistermon?" Taichi asked, clearly having gotten over the fact that he had mistaken the creature for an actual human child. "Do you know who did this?"

"No, I – I got lost," she answered, then looked at him with a curious expression. "You shouldn't be here."

Taichi's eyes narrowed dangerously, and he took two steps closer to her. But then, before either of them could do or say anything, Jyou gave out a surprised cry from behind.

"Oh!"

They turned to see him, wondering what had prompted his outburst and it was that moment that Sistermon Blanc chose to make a hasty exit. Taichi and Takeru ran after her, trying to prevent her from leaving but she was much quicker than they expected. The humanoid Digimon frowned at them over her shoulder, shaking her head. "It's too soon," she said cryptically, "We aren't supposed to meet yet. You have misled them."

"What? What is that supposed to mean?" Taichi yelled angrily.

"Stay your course. If you can even do that," and with that, she disappeared into a cloud of smoke, leaving a shimmer in the air around them.

Takeru and Taichi were panting, looking grave as they returned to the others who had stayed back to be with Jyou. They discovered that the source of his yell was that his Digivice had picked up a strange signal and he was feeling a strong compulsion to follow it. "I can't explain it," he told them sheepishly, "I just _know_ I need to follow it. You know?"

"That must be the program working," Koushiro said, "Though I did not expect its pull to be quite so strong."

"You mean you _knew_ this would happen?" Yamato asked, eyebrows raised.

Tentomon rushed in to help his human partner. "Of course Koushiro knew. We are basically manipulating your energy. What Jyou-sempai is feeling is only natural. We expect it to happen to each of you in due time."

Tentomon looked very sure of his words, his insect legs (or arms) crossed confidently over his thorax. Jyou, on the other hand, was looking restless, more nervous than they had ever seen him. But he also looked grave and completely decided. "We need to go," he told them, _"Now."_

"What about Sistermon Blanc?" Biyomon asked, but Gomamon shook his head immediately. Shooting a worried look at Jyou, he sighed.

"I think we have other priorities," he said.

"Taichi?" Sora asked, her eyes searching his. He avoided looking directly at her, afraid she'd see what he was feeling. The fact was that Yagami Taichi did not know what to do, or how to proceed. Their brief encounter with Sistermon Blanc and her cryptic words had made a lasting impression in him, unnerved him somehow.

"We'll have time to figure out who this Sistermon Blanc was," Yamato said, placing a comforting hand on Taichi's shoulder. "But I think we should see to Jyou's crest, or Digi-Egg, or whatever the hell that was."

"Fine," Taichi said, recognizing defeat. "Yeah – yes, just – lead the way, Jyou."

-x-

They made camp just before it got too dark to keep going. If Jyou had been Taichi, perhaps he'd have insisted that they continue until their bodies dropped dead from fatigue, but his sensible side won and he conceded that they needed a break. The atmosphere in the group had shifted considerably from the well-fed, adventurous spirits that they had set out with from Gennai's home, only to find questions and desolation wherever they went.

None of the Digimon they had encountered had any idea of where Sistermon Blanc came from or where she went. They did tell them that rogue Digimon were on the prowl and they should make sure to keep their eye open for them. Despite those shortcomings, they had covered a decent distance since the morning and Jyou felt slightly better though he kept twirling his Digivice nervously in his hands. He didn't like that he was forcing them to follow him, but he could think of nothing else that would appease the tug he felt. He _had_ to do this, and his friends – his friends had to be there too, right?

Taichi and Agumon were sitting away from the others, at Taichi's own request. He was leaning against his palms, looking up at the starry sky. "We need to find that Digimon," he murmured, and Agumon nodded next to him.

"We will, Tai," he said, "We'll look for her just as soon as Jyou finds his … whatever we're looking for."

Taichi looked at his partner and smiled. Agumon and he had been through so much, and the Digimon trusted him so completely, but he could not share his partner's enthusiasm. He was afraid he was leading his friends into more danger, and what Sistermon Blanc had said had shaken him more than she could have hoped.

_You have misled them._

"Yeah buddy," he said, "I know we will."

Agumon grinned, then looked up surprised as he felt a small hand touch his head.

"What – "

Mimi was leaning over him, petting him affectionately. Agumon closed his eyes and leaned in to her touch, relaxing visibly in her presence. Taichi watched the exchange with some amusement – he had never known Mimi had that effect on Agumon, although, if he thought about it, she had that effect on him too. Mimi smiled at him, and Taichi looked away with a slight blush, unsure why he was suddenly nervous in her presence.

"Agumon, do you mind if I have a moment with Taichi?" she asked, and Agumon shook his head vigorously.

"Of course not Mimi!" he said, "I'll go get some food anyway – I'm starved!"

Mimi giggled a little as he ran away, then let herself down on the grass next to her friend. Taichi's hair was unruly as ever, his goggles dangling carelessly around his neck, and though he was essentially the same boy she had met at camp all those years before, he was also someone completely different. The Taichi she had known then would not be caught brooding quietly by himself in a dangerously good Ishida Yamato impression. But this Taichi could, and she could not help but feel a little sorry for him.

"You okay?" she asked him. Taichi shrugged, letting out a soft sigh.

"Yeah, just a bit worried." He turned ever so slightly to look at her for a moment. "How are you holding up?" It was much easier to let Mimi do the talking, let her carry the conversation wherever she wanted to take it, than explain how uneasy he felt.

Mimi shrugged.

"I'm fine," she said. She touched her temple against his shoulder, noticing not for the first time how much taller Taichi was now. "I just wanted some company, to be honest." There was a pretty pink blush on her cheeks, and Taichi ventured to smile. Mimi looked rather cute when she blushed.

"I see how it is," he answered cheekily, making Mimi push him away playfully, just for a moment.

"Don't let it get to your head, idiot," she said, but there was a smile playing on her lips as Taichi took the opportunity to bring her closer into a side-embrace.

"Never," he said with a far too dramatic sigh, "It's good to have you back, Mimi."

The girl smiled without looking at him, shrugging into his embrace and letting herself be content with Taichi's warmth. Yes, things were looking bleak and yes, they were probably in danger but that would come later.

As it was, Taichi and Mimi were unaware that their little exchange had not gone unnoticed. How could they not feel it, he wondered, when Yamato's eyes were burning holes in the back of Taichi's head? His brow was furrowed deeply as he watched Taichi's arm go around Tachikawa's back, his fingers pressing her thin shoulder so easily, not a hint of strained conversation between them. He wanted to think that it didn't bother him, but he could not deny the way his fingernails were digging into his skin as his hands made fists, could not deny the increase in his heartbeats. It bothered him, because Taichi and Tachikawa had no problem being friends; he could argue with her and she could yell at him but then she'd find him after dinner and he'd do something like hold her hand or bring her closer to a hug, and everything was okay.

What did he get, instead? Indifferent glances, tumbled confessions and the admission that there would never be a real friendship between them again. He hadn't realized he was brooding until a familiar red-head came closer, and he could have spat at the wave of guilt that washed over him then. She was reaching a shy hand towards him, and her touch made him turn sharply from the scene before him, to her surprised face.

"Sora," he said, unfurrowing his brow as the girl blinked. "Is there – do you need something?" he finished lamely, mentally kicking himself for not being more delicate, and hoping against hope that she would not notice where he had been glaring.

"No, I just wanted to – well, talk," Sora admitted, her cheeks growing crimson. "I thought – " she turned to where Yamato was looking, where Taichi and Mimi sat together, hugged into a tender embrace that made her so embarrassed she had to look away. It always threw her a little off, how familiar Taichi and Mimi were despite the distance that separated them. "What were you er, doing?" she asked the blonde.

"Nothing," he answered in what he hoped was a bored, indifferent drawl, "Just going over some things I talked with Jyou. Must've drifted off."

Sora glanced unashamedly back at Taichi and Mimi, unsure why Yamato's answer wasn't satisfying her. He looked bored, yes, cool and lazy as only he could, but she hadn't missed the ice in his gaze before, had she? But there was no reason for Yamato to glare like that at Mimi, or Taichi, unless … unless he wasn't as indifferent to her as she had always presumed. Sora frowned deeply, earning a raised eyebrow from the blonde.

"You wanted to talk?" he reminded her, and she blinked twice, covering her face with a shy smile.

"Yes, I – thought we could, you know," she sighed, "We haven't, since last time and I … I don't want to fight, Yama –"

"Can we go someplace else?" he interrupted her, "Somewhere more private."

She didn't catch on the slight spat on the last word, her thoughts once again revolving against what she had seen and what she had thought she'd caught Yamato doing, and what she was trying to tell him. "Yes, I – sure, let's go somewhere else."

Yamato didn't even think about it. He gently took Sora's hand and pulled her away as he walked past where Taichi and Mimi were sitting, disappearing behind a small cliff. Sora followed him diligently, the smile on her lips intensifying as she thought of how warm his fingers were, and how much she'd missed holding his hand.

Mimi, with her head still resting against Taichi, barely registered the image before her as Ishida disappeared with Sora, their hands clasped together as they walked past them. She looked away, sighing softly and closing her eyes against the uneasy feeling, how she was slightly bristling at the sight. Truly, he brought out the worst in her.

It was tiresome, she had to admit, tiptoeing around the people they used to be and the people they were now.

-x-

Once they had put some distance between them and the rest, Yamato stopped walking. He let go of Sora's hand and sat down on the floor, his back against a big rock. He closed his eyes, but he could feel her sitting next to him – _though not as close as Tachikawa and Taichi were sitting_, he noted coldly. His heart sank. He owed Sora an apology for the way they'd left things and how he had neglected to go back and try to fix them.

"I'm sorry," he let out simply. "I haven't been the best – " his throat stuck on the word _boyfriend_, but he only let out his breath and continued, "I haven't been the best company, but," he reached out and took her hand again. "That doesn't change how I feel about you."

Sora looked at him, smiling tenderly at the young man who haunted her dreams. "I think we're all a bit on edge," she admitted, "It's not just you, it's … everything." Sora didn't let go of his hand, but held it tightly as she looked up at the sky. "I trust you, Matt," she said simply, and the admission tugged at his heart.

He was never good at expressing his feelings verbally, not through conversation like this. So he reached down at her and pressed his lips to hers for a moment, kissing her softly in a way that she might remember that their feelings were real, and important, despite everything that was going on around them. Yamato needed her to understand, needed her to be an anchor in this tempest.

-x-

Unaware and uncaring about the heartfelt confessions going around camp, Jyou was pacing up and down, fingering his Digivice nervously. Unmoving, Gomamon watched him from the sidelines, having long given up on telling Jyou to stop. He couldn't help it – waiting made him anxious. He hadn't wanted to press the group and tell them to keep going because they were all tired, but he was slowly going crazy with the idea of having to wait more. Koushiro had explained roughly how compelled they might feel to follow the energy that their Digi-Eggs had released, but Jyou wasn't sure his friend really had any idea of the extent of that feeling.

"Hey, Jyou," Gomamon quipped suddenly, "Will you quit it already? You tryin' to flatten the ground or something?"

Jyou stopped walking long enough to give a level gaze to his Digimon partner. "Gomamon, please just let me be. You're making me more nervous than I already am."

"Ha!" the Digimon replied with an eye-roll, "As if that's even possible." But he left without much more fuss, begrudging his blue-haired friend for being such an absolute wreck.

Jyou sighed, running a nervous hand through his locks. Gomamon was right, they were all right. He needed to calm himself but just then his eye caught a strange movement a few meters away from him. Despite his initial qualms, Jyou followed the rustle of leaves, hurrying through the bushes and trees to try to catch the culprit. He'd had the strange feeling that they were being observed for the longest time, and it was in his hands to finally find out who that was. He slowed down after a few minutes, pushing thin branches out of his way and trying to figure out where the thing he was following was. In the end, though, he was forced to accept that he had not been quick enough and whatever it was that he'd been following had escaped him.

He rested his back against a tree and slumped down, his hand reaching to remove his glasses. He closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose as he sighed. Then, a strange voice came out of nowhere – soft and soothing, and enveloping him completely.

"_You need to go alone, Kido Jyou. They can't follow where you're going."_

Jyou's scrambled his glasses back into his face but he could not find the source of the voice. "Who's there?" he asked, his eyes darting back and forth.

"_They can't follow you,"_ the voice repeated softly. But even though he tried to find it, called out for it and combed through the immediate area, he came out empty-handed. He returned to camp rubbing the knot on his neck, unsure why his breath hitched and his legs felt like lead.

Everywhere he looked, his friends seemed to be engaged in their own little things, and Jyou didn't want to disturb them with any more cryptic warnings and stupid things. After all, they were only this tired because they were following him, so he thought that this, maybe, he ought to keep to himself. At least until he found out more.

-x-

"Something's wrong with Jyou-senpai," Hikari said softly, her brown eyes following the older Digi-Destined's movements. Takeru followed her gaze, raising an eyebrow.

"But there's always something wrong with Jyou-senpai," he said, "I don't see what's the difference."

Hikari rolled her eyes at her friend. How Takeru was so oblivious sometimes was a mystery to her, really. "I don't know, Takeru," she said, "I have this bad feeling and …"

"Oh, relax, Hikari," the blonde said, passing his arm around her to hold her in a half-hug, "If Jyou had a problem, he'd tell us about it. You can always count on him for that, right?"

If she was convinced, Hikari didn't show it. But she was blushing slightly into Takeru's hug, her smile wavering as he grinned at her. "I guess," she finally relented, shaking her head at the self-satisfied smirk on her best friend's lips.

They had been following Jyou for the past three days, and things were starting to get a little strained. Taichi was distracted, Jyou was restless, Yamato was broodier than usual. Mimi seemed at a loss for enthusiasm and Koushiro had been tight-lipped, unable to answer any of their questions. Hikari and Sora had been discussing the situation the night before, noting how everyone's spirits seemed to be down but for all their efforts, nothing had changed. They needed to find those things and whomever had brought them to the Digiworld before they went absolutely mad.

Leading the group and far from the pair's earshot was Jyou, frowning intently at his Digivice. Gomamon walked beside him, looking up at his friend with a worried expression.

"What, Jyou?" he asked, calling the blue-haired boy's attention.

"I think – I think we're here."

The signal on his Digivice had stopped beeping. The strong urge he had felt the first time, had also stopped. He felt a sense of dread coming over him, and a shiver running down his spine. They were standing in front of an enormous rock formation, but there was something odd about the place, something sinister and …

"I thought we told you to come alone."

The voice was different to the one he'd heard before, but this time he could see the one speaking. Its form was humanoid and definitely female – tall, slender and with fierce armour of black, silver, gold and mauve. Its face was covered by a full helmet and visor, and atop its head sat a golden crown. His eyes lingered on the heart-tipped staff on her left hand – a weapon too big for his liking.

"Who are you?" Jyou repeated again, taking a step back as the creature perched itself, elegant and ominous, on a dark stone throne.

"I am QueenChessmon," the Digimon replied, "And you, Kido Jyou, were told to come alone."

"Jyou!" Taichi called, "What is she talking about? Do you know this Digimon?"

"No," Jyou said, his eyes never leaving QueenChessmon, "It's the first time we meet."

"You did not heed my warning, Kido," QueenChessmon continued, "Now, your friends will pay."

"What do you want from us?" Taichi yelled at her. He reached Jyou's side, looking at his friend out of the corner of his eye. The rest were preparing behind them, adopting defensive stances as they could.

QueenChessmon turned her head to him, impassive as ever. "Yagami Taichi," she said in her deep voice, "The DigiDestined of Courage. How … pathetic."

"How do you know who we are?" Taichi continued, his voice rising at her provocations.

"I am not here to deal with you," QueenChessmon replied coldly. She rose, pushing her cape behind her dramatically. "Begone, children."

The command never came, but the Digimon knew they had to evolve and just in time, too, for QueenChessmon had summoned a small army of PawnChessmon. With a wave of her hand she sent them at the DigiDestined, whom their Digimon hurried to protect. Greymon and Weregarurumon were attacked on all sides, Birdramon showering them with fire as Togemon punched PawnChessmon out of her friends' way. Both Ikkakumon and Kabuterimon were helping, as Angemon and Angewomon tried to get the children to safety.

It all happened fast. They were outnumbered as more pawns appeared and came forth to their master's call, but the Digimon refused to give up. One second Jyou was screaming at Ikkakumon and the next, QueenChessmon had rushed to his side. With her face mere inches away from his, Jyou could feel the cold of her steel armour.

"This is on you, Kido Kyou," she murmured softly, landing a direct punch to Jyou's stomach. He gasped, feeling his muscles contract at the contact and pain exploded considerably in his midriff. He couldn't stop the tears that came to his eyes, and a small spurt of blood that he coughed out, tasting the iron and salt in his tongue.

Jyou fell to his knees, clutching his stomach furiously but the sight before him made him scream louder. The PawnChessmon had grabbed on to Hikari and Mimi, and they were holding them roughly by the arms as they tried to struggle out of their grasp. QueenChessmon approached them gracefully and in a movement as quick as ever, her hand (clad in steel gauntlet) ran across Mimi's cheek, leaving a deep cut as the girl screamed.

But he didn't have time to feel horrified about it because the PawnChessmon had thrown Hikari down, and she was whimpering terribly. His eyes widened when he saw the odd angle of her arm and how her bone seemed to stick out of her clavicle.

"No," he moaned, "Hikari-chan! Mimi-chan!"

Jyou tried to stand and run towards them but his stomach hurt so much and he was dizzy, tired – QueenChessmon turned to see him again, and her mouth was visible, twisting into a thin smile – "Next time, we will not be so kind, DigiDestined."

He couldn't say what made him do it. Jyou rushed against her, tackling her as hard as he could, and succeeding only in surprising her mildly.

"Foolish boy," QueenChessmon spat, "Your friends would do better without you." And with venom she tossed him away, his back hitting hard against the immense rock wall behind them. She came closer, kicking him once more before turning her back against him. "You can't even rely on yourself. Deplorable, really."

Jyou groaned, the pain spreading quickly to every muscle the Digimon had touched. His arms and legs were cut and scraped in various places, and there was blood trickling down his mouth. He spat, trying not to scream or cry at the pain and he did not feel his Digivice buzzing but suddenly it was heating up and when he held it, he almost dropped it. Behind him, on the big slab of rock, an opening was growing and Jyou stood to see the strange Digi-Egg glowing with that same dark energy as its outer shell crumbled like bits of charcoal. The thing was small, an insignificant thing adorned with his crest: Reliability. Jyou held it in his hand and it burned him, but he sucked the air in and refused to let it go.

QueenChessmon laughed behind him, but he did not turn to see her. He didn't think he could. His friends were hurt before his eyes, their Digimon reduced to pulp by mere pawns and now this – this _thing_…

"Next time," he heard, "I will _crush_ you. With or without that crest of yours."

There was a shrill sound, and then all went dark.

-x-

"Jyou! Jyou, wake up!"

Gomamon was the first thing he saw. Jyou blinked rapidly, wincing as the pain assaulted him again, washing over him as if it had never left. His friends, the ones who had been ushered into safety by Angemon and Angewomon, were hurrying to reach them, and it was then that he remembered Mimi and Hikari. He ignored his body's protests as he ran towards the girls too, reaching them just before the rest and quickly assessing the damage they had suffered. Mimi was holding Hikari up, whose face was swollen and shiny with tears. He limped towards them, but then a fist came out of nowhere, colliding against his left cheek.

"Taichi!"

Sora's voice. Jyou whipped around with a surprised yelp, his hand reaching to nurse his now bruised cheek. "What the hell was that for?" he croaked, his voice hoarse and strange.

Taichi was fuming, but Yamato was holding him back with Takeru's help as Koushiro and Sora rushed to the girls.

"Why did that Digimon say this was your fault?" he yelled, "You were _warned_, Jyou! You should've told us." He tore himself from his friends grasp and turned his eyes towards Hikari and Mimi, and then back to Jyou. "_They_ should've been warned."

"Taichi stop!" Sora screamed at him, trying to hold on to his arm but he tossed her hand away too, stunning her. Upon seeing her being treated with such harshness, Yamato too intervened, pushing Taichi roughly.

"Do _not_," he began in a low, dangerous voice, "Do _not_ take it out on her. Or any of us. This was _not_ our fault."

Yamato didn't say it, but Jyou could hear it clearly in his head.

It was his.


	7. Absolute Pin

**AN: Accidentally deleted it while I was making some edits. Re-posting after adding a few things.**

I know I this is hardly the place to complain but this chapter was re-written so many times I can barely look at it now. I apologise for the delay; it took me two whole weeks but at least a lot happens here (like, a lot, a lot). Please let me know if something isn't clear in the story – I've re-read it and re-written it so many times, I don't think I can spot inconsistencies anymore.

I am aware that I jump from one character's head to another without warning, but I think I make the changes clear enough for them not to be confusing. Still, let me know if I need to go back and refine something.

In chess, a **pin** is a situation brought on by an attacking piece in which a defending piece cannot move without exposing a more valuable defending piece on its other side to capture by the attacking piece. An _absolute pin_ is one where the piece shielded by the pinned piece is the king.

* * *

><p>Jyou's hand was burning where he had gripped the Digi-Egg of Reliability. The thing was safely away in a pocket inside his rucksack, though he had yet to tend to the nasty burns left. His left cheek was swollen and bruising under his eye and above his cheekbone, but he was not complaining about that or any of his other injuries. Jyou was too busy tending to Hikari, who commanded the most attention just then. It was no secret that Jyou was studying to be a doctor but what many of his friends sometimes forgot was that it didn't necessarily make him competent to attend <em>all<em> sorts of medical emergencies. What he knew about dressing wounds and offering medication was mainly due to his First Aid courses and Early Medical Practices, something that he had enrolled in after their first adventure in the Digital World. They had come in pretty handy, though he regretted to say that it was because they were so often in trouble.

He looked at Hikari's shoulder, assuring her in a short, clipped voice that she'd be okay. Sora rushed to bring the medical supplies that Gennai had given them and Jyou thanked her without looking at her. "I don't think it's broken," he finally said. "Hikari-chan," he continued, as gently as he could, "I'm going to need you to trust me, okay?" He had identified the injury as a sternoclavicular dislocation, which was small enough for him not to faint at the moment but troublesome enough to make him nervous. With some effort, he thought, he'd be able to help her.

Behind him, someone made a "tch" sound, but he only pressed his lips tighter. Hikari nodded; her face was streaked with tears and she was hiccupping lightly. Jyou took her wrist and placed his other hand on her shoulder, where her bones protruded out grotesquely from under her skin. He took a small breath, counting one, then two … at three, he expertly pulled on her arm. Hikari's scream was terrible, but Jyou did not pause and just as quickly, he had tapped her collarbone with the heel of his hand, jamming the bones back into place. The whole process was over in less than a minute, and though Hikari had paled and her lips had turned blue for a moment, she was steadily regaining her colour, and the tears were also ceasing.

"How are you feeling?" he asked gently, running his gaze over the purpling skin he had just assaulted.

Hikari hiccupped, then chanced a small smile. "I-I feel a lot better. I think I can – ouch!" she winced, having tried to raise her shoulder and finding it extremely painful again.

"It was just a partial luxation," Jyou told her, "But you shouldn't move it around just yet. It'll take a couple of weeks to heal." He pulled out a small package that contained a dark blue sling that he adjusted her arm in, then tied it firmly above her injured shoulder. Hikari smiled at him again, but before he could return it, Taichi was already moving him aside with much more force than necessary, and rushing to hug his little sister.

"Hikari …" he said, burying his face in her neck, "I'm sorry, I couldn't protect you, I'm sorry…"

Jyou was stunned for a moment, but he removed himself from the scene, going over to Mimi, whose face was bloody and dirty. She had been pretty banged up but she was trying to smile as he approached her, shaking her head softly as he opened his mouth to apologise. "Don't worry so much, Senpai," Mimi told him, "I'm sure it looks worse than it was." Jyou could see the girl's eyes welling up with tears, and his stomach lurched.

He wished that he could say the same. Mimi's cut was deep, QueenChessmon had pierced through several layers of skin and cut into her flesh. Jyou carefully cleaned her wound, silent through Mimi's tears and complaints about the alcohol burning her skin, then dressed her cheek with some foul-smelling ointment and told her not to dress it with any gauze just yet, to avoid risk of festering. At which the girl yelped and almost dissolved in tears again, thinking that half her face was going to rot.

It took him a moment to calm her down and assure her that her face would be just fine and that he'd make sure his wound healed cleanly, but Mimi's eyes were already swollen and red by the time she accepted it. His fingers brushed her good cheek, and he felt an iron grip on his heart as he saw how swollen her whole face was, and how much beauty the injury stole from her. It was all his fault … God, he hoped that wouldn't leave a scar.

Mimi, on the other hand, gasped as she saw his hand. "Jyou-senpai! You're injured too," she exclaimed. She washed her hands and quickly got to clean his wounds as gently as he had done hers.

"I can't believe you didn't take care of this first," she reproached him.

"I had to tend to Hikari," he said patiently, "And to you."

She flushed, pursing her lips without looking into his eyes and muttering how silly he was. She took care of his cuts and scratches, and the wound below his eye, examining his wounded torso against his protests. He didn't talk much, just helped Mimi choose the right medicine and gave clear instructions on how to clean his wounds. The burns in his hand, which he had ignored all this time, he cleaned himself, and then bandaged lightly after applying enough ointment to ensure his bits of skin would not stick to the gauze. When he was done he looked up to find Mimi staring at him, her brow furrowed.

"Jyou..." she began, "None of this was your fault."

He smiled, pushing his glasses further up his nose and looking away from her.

"I know that," he sighed.

_But it was._

The rest of the group had escaped the worst injuries, with some small scratches here and there. They tended to their own and their Digimon's injuries and left as quickly as they could and set up camp an hour away, too tired and upset to keep walking. Jyou was tired and sore and wanted nothing more than sleep through the rest of the day, but too much had happened and he knew it was inevitable to face the others. Still, he felt a tiny fraction better when Hikari came up to him and hugged him, one-armed as it was, giving him her most sincere thanks for the way he'd pulled her arm back into place.

Taichi hadn't spoken to him again, and Jyou did not expect him to. He knew the boy was too stubborn and prideful for his own good, and quite frankly, Jyou felt a little afraid of what he might have to say. He sat down before the fireplace, a little away from them but Sora sat on his right and he had nothing to say that would make her go away. Taichi sat next to Hikari and Mimi, who still looked a little shaken up but was in otherwise good spirits; his lips were pursed and he refused to look in Jyou's and Sora's direction.

Sensing this, Yamato was the first to speak.

"Stop being a brat Taichi," he said coolly, "We have bigger problems than your attitude right now."

Taichi tensed and normally would have tried to turn Yamato into pulp, but he only clicked his tongue loudly and crossed his arms over his chest. "Fine," he spat, turning his hard brown eyes to Jyou. "What the hell was that about?"

Jyou tensed up too, then sighed when he felt Sora's hand on his back, lending him a bit of support. At least not everyone hated him.

"I don't know," he answered honestly, raising his hands, "I heard a voice a couple of days ago, telling me not to bring you with me. I never saw who it was. It wasn't QueenChessmon though, I can tell you that."

"Why didn't you tell us?" Yamato asked, one eyebrow raised.

Jyou seemed uncomfortable for a moment but then sighed once again. "You were all busy," he said vaguely, not meeting their eyes.

"Busy? Jyou," Taichi said, with obvious strain, "We couldn't have been that busy, you should've gone to us – you – "

He was interrupted by Jyou again, whose mouth was curled downwards.

"_You_ were busy with Mimi, Yamato was somewhere with Sora, and Hikari and Takeru were discussing things I had neither the time nor the disposition to understand, with Koushiro," he spat, a little harsher than was necessary. The group shifted awkwardly, and he could even see the heat rise to their cheeks as he spoke. Somehow, that made him feel even worse. "I thought it was a trap, okay?" Jyou clenched his jaw. "I thought someone wanted us to separate so that they could hurt us."

Taichi opened his mouth, but Jyou cut him down with a look. "Look, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I didn't tell you and I am truly, infinitely sorry you got hurt," he was looking at Hikari and Mimi, and a knot rose to his throat, "But this is not my fault. I don't know more than what she told us, I don't even – I don't even know what to do with that stupid Digi-Egg."

Koushiro was frowning, unsure of whether or not he should speak. "I don't think that's our biggest problem," he said, and then, when he saw the look upon Taichi's face, added, "Of course it matters Taichi, three of us were hurt, including your sister. But the most important thing here is that we were _attacked_. Directly. Physically assaulted by Digimon who did not stop to consider we had no means of defense save our own Digimon, who were overpowered without a chance of even Digivolving." He looked defiant. "I think that's a bigger problem, don't you think?"

"She said she'd crush us next time," Hikari said softly. Taichi looked at her, holding her hand in his own.

"That won't happen," he said, and his sister smiled a little but couldn't quite buy the tone of his voice.

Yamato looked at them, then raised his gaze to the sky. It was dark already, and getting a little colder. "Perhaps, but that doesn't mean they won't try." His gaze rested fleetingly on Mimi, and then on Taichi. "We have to be prepared next time we meet."

"You think QueenChessmon was the one who brought us here?" Sora asked.

Koushiro shook his head, biting back a rough reply. "No, but we're closer to finding who did."

It wasn't a complete truth, but it wasn't a lie either. Koushiro had been working tirelessly to figure out what was going on, but neither he nor Gennai were making any real, measurable progress. Every time they seemed to get somewhere, they'd hit a dead end. They knew no one who had come upon QueenChessmon or any other suspicious character and the only lead they had, which was the Tanemon's account of a Leomon visiting their village, had gone cold.

Slowly, Koushiro drew back into his work, always anxious and afraid of being asked questions to which he had no answers. He swallowed hard as his fingered danced away on his keyboard, trying once more to break the barriers that were resisting his intrusion. The truth was that if he didn't figure this out soon … he didn't know what he would do.

-x-

Another two days passed before they made any real progress. Though Hikari insisted she was fit to travel, Taichi equally insisted she needed to rest, and both Yagami siblings proved to be equally hard-headed and stubborn. They didn't travel so much as wander, walking in a general direction without really caring whether they arrived anywhere at all. Tensions were still high and Jyou simply refused to keep talking about the issue at hand. The rest were bothered with their own things and quite happy to leave him alone, so nightfall found him lying with Gomamon under a tree, trying to figure out how he felt about the whole ordeal.

First, there were immense amounts of guilt.

He felt terrible for leading his friends into such danger; even if he had thought that he was sparing them such a thing. Hikari-chan was like a sister to him and he felt he had let her down. And Taichi … _God, Taichi_. He hated him; he made no attempt to cover that fact. Taichi blamed this entirely on Jyou and he couldn't say he disagreed. He shivered as he remembered what he felt when QueenChessmon approached and slapped Mimi, _his _Mimi-chan…

If she couldn't count on him to protect her, then what good was he?

Which led to the other feeling currently sickening him. His friends had trusted him so much, and he had done nothing but put them in danger. He felt like an absolute failure – he'd been a clown to pretend that he was ready to face these adventures again, an idiot. He wasn't cut out for this shit – never had been.

-x-

She stared at the nasty cut for what felt like the millionth time, and she swore it was looking nastier than ever. She had tried to brush it off as a mere scratch to ease Jyou's guilt, but the truth was that Mimi had never been hit so viciously before. The cut was deep and there was some definite bruising on her cheekbone, she was sure of that. Still, she was thankful that the blow had not amounted to more and that they were rather well prepared for that kind of accident. Why, she might not even have a scar left!

"Does it hurt?"

Mimi saw Yamato's reflection on the pocket mirror in her hand, before snapping the thing shut. Her heart gave a little painful lurch. "Only when I smile," she replied, lips pursed as she turned around to face him. Over the years, she had learned to become immune to Ishida's cursed good looks. Of course, his acid attitude usually helped; but sometimes, when he was being particularly nice, she couldn't help but indulge in a little admiring.

He had grown quite tall, which made him look even more unapproachable and intimidating than before. His hair, blonde and shiny, was messy in a way that made her wonder if he did it on purpose, because the way it fell so casually into his eyes couldn't be an accident. And she would be damned if she hadn't learned to steel herself to his feline, azure gaze. Honestly, eyes like that should come with a warning; it was only fair. It wasn't surprising at all when she heard he had become a complete teen heartthrob, back in high school or that Sora, too, had fallen for his charm. Truth be told, Mimi had almost been expecting it to happen.

She stared into his grimace, sighing as she shook those thoughts out of her head. _Silly Mimi._ "It's a joke, you're supposed to laugh," she said.

His reply came with a raised eyebrow and cold, perfunctory silence. "It wasn't funny."

"I guess not," Mimi admitted with a shrug.

Yamato stared at the cut on Tachikawa's cheek, his jaw clenched tightly. Seeing Hikari hurt had upset him but Mimi's injury shone grotesquely and seemed to be mocking his inability to protect his friends. It had been a terrible blow not only to her but to the whole group's morale. While it was true that his brother and Hikari were the youngest in the group, Mimi had always been sort of a soft spot for everyone. Despite her childish attitude or rather because of it, Mimi was always a high priority when it came to shielding and protecting each other.

He sat down, knees open and hands clasped behind his neck. He wasn't sure why he had come here to find her of all people. And now that he was, he didn't know what to say to her that didn't sound absolutely inappropriate or strained. He couldn't even pretend not to be worried about her, and he did not know how to express that without dredging up things that were better left untouched.

But seeing Yamato so quiet and vulnerable, something in Mimi bristled. She hadn't forgotten her argument with him, but in the light of things it didn't seem all that terrible, or all that important. He had sat across from her and she enjoyed it for a moment, the look of his hair shining gold as he hung his head low. Why, if anyone looked at them they might even mistake them for a couple of friends.

"You know, Ishida-san, I …"

"You never used to call me that."

Mimi frowned as she heard him, but he had not looked up. "What do you mean?" she asked, fidgeting nervously with her mirror.

"Ishida-san? You never used to be so formal with me." Yamato raised his eyes and the way the fire was reflected on them was breathtaking, but Mimi's lips were turned down in a small frown.

There was a pause.

"That was a long time ago," Mimi said quietly. She didn't like where the conversation was heading, and did not know why _he_ wanted to go there.

"Yeah," he whispered softly, "I guess you're right."

Once again, he couldn't bring himself to think why he was doing this, why he was bringing up something that had happened so long ago, they could legally pretend not to remember. But deep inside, he knew that seeing Mimi so close to Taichi had stirred up things that he believed long dead, and long buried. Still, the admission shamed him more than he could let her know. Yamato ran one hand down his face, then settled with a cold smile as he stood up.

"Get some rest," he said coolly, and then, almost as an afterthought; "Good night, Mi-chan."

He left without another word, without even glancing back at her. Mimi's eyes were fixed on his back, and there was a little twitch in her cheek that made her wound prickle uncomfortably. Why he – he hadn't called her that in so long, and Mimi felt, well, _strange_. And just a little bit angry. He had _no_ right, she thought, to bring up things like that and then just leave. It was mean, and unfair and – and ultimately, it was what Yamato always did.

Mimi rested her forehead against her knees, hugging them close to her chest, her breathing low and controlled.

It was like this that Taichi found her.

Taichi ran his fingers through his mess of brown hair, wanting to tear the whole thing right out of his scalp. He stopped his frantic pacing when he reached the little bulk that was Mimi, calling out her name and rubbing the back of his neck self-consciously. He hadn't expected her to be there, and it struck him as odd that she'd be all by herself and looking so damp and gloomy.

The girl looked up when she heard Taichi calling her, blinking a little groggily at the sudden invasion of light. She had been focusing so hard that she figured that she had been close to falling asleep. "Yes?" she asked, rubbing what she was sure was a very red forehead as she squinted up at her friend.

Taichi looked down at her, his half-smile disappearing as her face came into view. The cut on her cheek looked swollen and painful, and he felt his stomach do that funny little thing again when her eyes rested on him. He knelt to face her, a sympathetic smile touching his lips as he reached with his hand to push a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Can I, er – help you with that?"

Mimi didn't need his help, but she nodded. It felt nice to have them watch and worry over her, even if it was only because she had been so brutally attacked. "I'd appreciate that," she replied with a sleepy smile.

They stopped near the stream, with Mimi sitting on a big rock whilst Taichi administered his care to her wounds. She allowed him to clean her cheek, all the while blushing furiously because she looked hideous and he looked so darned handsome with his eyebrows knitted together in concentration. His touch was surprisingly gentle, and Mimi thought she rather liked looking into Taichi's eyes, found his smile easy to return. Despite their differences, Taichi had been a great friend to her, and she found his presence more comforting than she'd let him know.

"I'm really sorry, Mimi-chan," Taichi said, his fingers spreading the ointment Jyou-senpai had given her to help with her scarring.

Mimi sucked air, tongue between her teeth. "That stings," she complained, the pout on her lips more reminiscing of an eleven year-old Mimi than the young woman that she now was. Taichi placed a square of clean gauze on her cheek, carefully covering her wound and using surgical tape to keep it in place. When he was finished, he wiped his hand on a napkin and put everything away.

"It's going to heal in no time," he said, obviously trying to cheer his friend up. It must be difficult, he thought, for a girl as pretty as Mimi to find herself in her situation.

She tried to smile, but ended up wincing at the sudden sting.

"I – ow! Yeah, I know," she said, her half-smile, half-pout back on her lips. She stood up, dusting the front of her clothes and when she looked up, Taichi suddenly pulled her into a gentle hug. His hands were on her arms, but slowly wrapped around her, pulling her closer to him. Mimi, unprepared for this, had her hands on his chest, unsure of whether she could or even wanted to move.

She felt his breath on her ear, his warm cheek against her uninjured one.

"I'm sorry they got to you," he told her softly, "I promise it won't happen again."

Mimi felt the warmth spread from her chest and up to her cheeks, and she smiled – ignoring the sting as she gently pushed him away from her. He seemed hurt first from her rejection, but Mimi quickly raised a hand and touched it to his face, just patting it lightly. Then she closed the distance between them with a small, sweet kiss on Taichi's cheek.

"I know," she told him, unwavering in her conviction, "You won't let it."

Taichi's heart gave a little leap to his throat as she kissed his cheek but he smiled, his hands leaving her arms and shuffling awkwardly inside his pockets. And later, when he'd be giving in to sleep, he'd remember how warm Mimi's kiss made him, and then he'd remember Sistermon Blanc's echoing inside his head: _You have misled them._

And the warmth would be forgotten.

-x-

Another three days passed before anything brought them out of the haze of their encounter with QueenChessmon; time during which Taichi became fiercely protective of both Hikari and Mimi, a detail that was missed by none but that they all declined to point out. Things between him and Jyou had barely improved – Taichi still nursed a heavy grudge against their Senpai for putting them in danger, and Jyou quietly and stoically bore the weight of it by staying out of Taichi's way as much as he could. Still, the tension was enough to put everyone in a sour mood, and with Mimi and Hikari injured, it was left to their Digimon to try and cheer their human partners up.

It wasn't going well.

Gomamon, who was by far the Digimon with the best sense of humor, was feeling rather resentful of the harsh treatment Jyou had received, which made him act out against his other partners. In his case, it meant that he spent most of the day ignoring them and when he could chance it, slipping a thinly veiled insult under the door. Under normal circumstances, perhaps they wouldn't pay him any attention, or would hurry to make-up. As it was, his snide comments hit a little too close to home.

"I think we should rest a couple more days," Taichi told them over breakfast, "Hikari and Mimi need some more time to heal."

Gomamon swallowed the last of his portion before speaking.

"Sure, why not?" he said, "You're the leader, Taichi."

The Digimon left without another word, but Taichi was glaring in Jyou's direction. The older boy did his best to avoid his gaze, sighing into his food after finding he was no longer very hungry.

"I'm actually feeling a lot better," Hikari said with a bright smile, "We don't need to wait anymore, brother." While it was true that Hikari's shoulder felt much better after a couple of days of rest and proper care, it was also true that she was making a superhuman effort to make it appear as though her recovery was going at the speed of light. She did this partly because she didn't want Jyou to feel guilty anymore, and partly because she knew it made her brother feel better as well. Jyou was very well aware of this tactic, but it only made him feel worse about putting her in such a situation. Taichi, oblivious to his sister's actions, sighed in relief.

Yamato's Digivice had lead them in that direction and he, like Jyou, seemed to be dealing with a strange sort of compulsion as they drew closer to their objective. It had been decided that Yamato would travel the last trek on his own; a measure taken after the unfortunate incident with QueenChessmon. Sora had vehemently opposed it, claiming it was madness and an unnecessary risk for Yamato. The group seemed divided, but at the end, it was Yamato who decided he'd go by himself if only to get well and away from them all.

As a result, Sora was angry at Taichi, Taichi was angry at both Jyou _and_ Yamato; Hikari was slightly resentful of Sora's anger towards her brother, and Mimi was absolutely sick of all of them, deciding to comfort Takeru and convince him not to chase after his brother in defiance of his ultimate decision. Koushiro, as usual, was too absorbed in his own research to spare them more than a couple of minutes in each argument, and usually only to perfunctorily add a comment about how it was getting them nowhere to argue.

"We can't wait forever, can we?" Hikari asked with a smile that Taichi only half returned. He couldn't answer, however, because Takeru was already speaking for him.

"Nope, we can't," Takeru said, his gaze set on Yamato's back, "Brother's getting impatient." Yamato had taken his brooding to a whole new level now that his Digi-Egg was in sight. Like Jyou,, he had become restless and had difficulty stopping even to sleep, but as they did not wish to repeat what had happened the last time, they had agreed to keep an eye out for any more warnings that came their way. So far though, whomever those strange voices were, had kept oddly quiet.

A deafening roar interrupted the conversation, and they all sprang to their feet.

"Yamato will have to wait," Taichi said darkly. "Since we're about to get picked up ourselves."

They could hear them in the distance, the disorderly movement of Digimon moving rapidly towards them. Night had already fallen and they were at disadvantage so out in the open, but Taichi did not stop to think twice about jumping into action. They hadn't been attacked since they met QueenChessmon, and Taichi had been _begging_ for a chance to come face to face with the unfortunate creature since then. Perhaps his prayers had been heard.

"Agumon!" Taichi called, his hand jumping to his Digivice.

"One step ahead of you, Tai!" the Digimon said with a grin before commencing the Digivolution process and turning into Greymon.

"Don't worry Mimi," Palmon assured her friend rapidly, "I'm not gonna let them hurt you again!"

The rest of their friends followed, Digivolving into their adult forms and within minutes, they were confronted with two Digimon who did not wait to be ordered to attack. They were dinosaur-like creatures, huge in size and terrible in nature. One was, as far as they could see, red-skinned and with huge and sharp teeth. The other one, bigger and wilder than the first, was black as night with yellow eyes that shone maniacally in the dark. Koushiro frowned, but didn't have time to ask why such rare Digimon were out in the open, and attacking them, too.

"_Pyro Blaster!"_ they heard, and a beam of fire shot from the first mouth, sending a wave of heat that slapped them in the face.

Palmon, now Togemon, deflected the attack with her fists, growling as she stepped in front of her human friends to defend them. They jumped to the floor, trying to escape the heat and the flames that hit Togemon, causing the smell of burnt hide and something vaguely wooden to attack their nostrils.

"_Plasma Blade!"_

"Kari!" Taichi yelled, "Get the hell out of here!"

"There's no time!" Hikari replied, "Don't worry about me, go after them!"

Taichi growled but did not have time to argue – Greymon and the others were closing in on the Digimon while Mimi rushed to get Kari out of harm's way. Taichi felt a surge of gratitude towards her as he rose from the earth to rush to Greymon's aid. He'd thank Mimi later.

With Hikari safely hidden behind a grove of trees, Mimi chanced to peek back into the battle. Greymon was battling the smaller Digimon, using his claws, teeth and head to damage as much of the other dinosaur as he could. The flames sent from their attacks had caught on some of the trees, giving them a terrible orange glow as they battled. She could see Birdramon up above, raining down more fire with what she assumed was Sora, holding on to her neck.

"_Fire Flapping!"_

On their left, Togemon and Garurumon were trying to bring down the other Digimon, punching and biting whatever they could. Kabuterimon was circling them, trying to hit their enemy with his Electro Shocker and illuminating them momentarily with rays of lightning. She was scared, but she bit back a sob as she saw how her friends were out there, exposed to all sorts of damage whilst she carried Hikari to safety. She owed that much to Taichi, and Hikari's injuries prevented her from moving so fast; but Mimi's didn't – it was the least she could do.

"Mimi," Hikari began, but Mimi turned to her with a smile. The skin around her cheek tightened, but she ignored the prickle of pain.

"Stay here, Hikari. I'll be back."

She ran, leaving Hikari standing alone and holding on to her injured arm. The battle was terrible – growls and howls, and unintelligible yells from the DigiDestined joined the clash of steel against muscle and bone as the Herculean creatures waged their war. Garurumon opened his jaw, clasping it tightly against Growmon's tail as Birdramon sent another jet of flames to engulf the dinosaur.

"_We will destroy you!"_ the Digimon roared.

"_Today, DigiDestined, you die!"_

Mimi yelped as Togemon was thrown to the floor, screaming a warning at her to get out of the way. She didn't want to fight, it was true, but that was only because she didn't want to see anyone get hurt. And she was sure that if she could only get close enough, she could purify their darkness with her Digivice, which was what she would try to do with Takeru's help, once he reached him. It was worth a shot if it meant they could stop the fighting once and for all.

Of course, the deed was easier said than done.

_You cannot help them._

Hikari turned, her eyes wide open. The voice sounded remarkably like the first they had heard, when they had been warned that upon meeting, they would be crushed.

"Who's there?" she demanded, "Where are you?"

_They will be swallowed by darkness and not even you, Bearer of Light, can save them._

"No!" Hikari yelled, "We will find you, wherever you are. You can't win."

She turned away, shutting down the voice as she made her way back to the battlefield – as close as she dared come with Mimi's and Taichi's warning ringing in her ears. The battle had ended, or rather was ending, but things looked far from peaceful. Yamato and Taichi were on the floor, panting and wheezing. Jyou was carrying Gomamon and holding on to Takeru, who seemed to be limping slightly. Tailmon ran to her partner, nuzzling her leg as Hikari knelt to pick her up with her good arm.

"What happened, Tailmon?" Hikari asked.

Her Digimon seemed to be sad for a moment, but then looked over to where Mimi and Sora were, apparently arguing. They drew closer.

"Mimi!" Sora was yelling, "You can't go on doing that, you idiot!" There were tears in her eyes, and in Mimi's, but the brunette was not looking at Sora.

"I'm sorry," she murmured, "But can't you _see_ they're in pain?"

"What I can _see_," Sora continued angrily, "Is that they were trying to _kill_ us. And they very nearly succeeded, too! How can you defend them?" Her voice acquired a steely quality, and Hikari's eyes raced from either girl to what she now recognized as a Growmon and a BlackGrowmon who lay agonizing in the ground behind them, pinned there by MetalGreymon and Garurumon.

"Birdramon," Sora said quietly, "Finish them off."

"No! Sora, wait," Mimi implored, "Birdramon, wait – _no!_" She ran, trying to reach the Digimon but Taichi got to her first, grabbing her by the shoulders and holding her to him.

"Taichi, _stop her_ – Taichi,_ stop!_" Mimi cried, but Taichi only grabbed her more forcefully, tightening his hold on her as their Digimon drew their faces away.

"Mimi – stop," he commanded in a voice he rarely used, and which would brook no refusal. "Sora tried to get closer to them before they fell. We tried to do what you did with the DarkTyranomon – _it didn't work, Mimi_. There wasn't any darkness we could take out of them." Taichi was looking at her with some degree of pity, she knew, but he was being honest, and that was what hurt the most. If he was right, then there was only so much they could do for the Digimon and for all their friends.

"You mean – they were – " Mimi's eyes were wide, and Hikari too, turned away when both Digimon disintegrated into specks of data.

"There was nothing we could do for them, Mimi," Sora said again, walking away and stopping once she was close to Yamato, who set a firm hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry you don't understand that."

Yamato's hand let go of Sora, quite suddenly.

"Yama, what – " she looked confused and hurt for a moment, but a look of cold determination had settled in his face.

"It's here," he said, taking out his Digivice. "It's so close, I – " he turned to Sora, slightly apologetic, "Garurumon."

Garurumon drew closer and Yamato climbed on his back, his hands gripping the hair around his neck for support. He couldn't wait for them, couldn't stop now that he was so close to it. Not even for Sora.

During the past few days he had been anxiously searching for his Digi-Egg, aware that neither Koushiro nor Gennai had any answers for them just yet. That didn't matter though – something inside of him begged him to search, practically forced him to get up and pursue the trace of energy it left in its wake.

They rode for a while, but Yamato did not worry about his friends. He expected them to be on his pursuit already; Sora would probably insist on it. They only stopped when Garurumon suddenly spoke up, making Yamato blink and look ahead.

"Yamato," he said in a low growl, "Is this the place we've been looking for?"

The place looked like the ruins of what was once a large town. With some attention and a great deal of imagination it was possible to visualize the structure as it must have been, though it was little more than piles of ancient rubbish now. The air, cold and dry, was rank with the smell of abandon and as they padded close, his sense of unease grew. His Digivice stopped beeping, and the strange pull that had led him there disappeared without warning.

If there were places where humans and Digimon were just not meant to live, this place was one of them. He climbed down, the sounds of his footsteps and Garurumon's low growl disrupting the eerie silence. The space looked as abandoned and neglected as Yamato could imagine anything to be. It surprised him how there could be places of such waste in the Digiworld, but he thought he could recall Koushiro saying that deconstructed data could look like that sometimes. It was amazing how much he'd picked up from the kid without even trying.

"Go on," Garurumon said, "I'll stand guard."

Yamato nodded, waving a hand as he walked into the ruins on his own. It was a while before he realised his Digivice started buzzing, steadily growing warmer in his pocket. He reached for it and held it tightly in his hand as he roamed until it became too hot for him to hold it.

"Fuck," Yamato hissed, letting it drop unceremoniously, the drop echoing strangely in the hall. He took off his jacket and used it as protection against the hot apparatus. He stopped in front of a run-down column surrounded by gravel and rubble. There was a fine crack where it had split open, and Yamato only took a step closer before the crevice widened and the same strange dark energy began flowing out of it. He could see his crest glowing strangely as the rock fell apart, melting around it until it revealed a small thing no bigger than his palm. Yamato reached out to hold it, wincing loudly as it burned the skin off his fingers and palm.

"This better be worth it," he exclaimed angrily, letting it fall on his jacket and blowing the spots were it had burnt his skin. If he had been paying any attention to anything but the Digi-Egg, Yamato may have noticed that he was not alone.

"You should be more grateful. A lot has been sacrificed for that crest of yours."

His gaze travelled to his right, alighting on what seemed to be a girl or – a nun? She had a human girl figure alright, but the clothes she wore suggested that she intended to look like a nun. She wore a dress instead of a tunic, and a strange klobuk that looked sort of like a bat, atop her head. Her legs were mostly covered with tall and thick black pantyhose and she wore heels. This he confirmed when the sharp click of them reached his ears.

"Who are you?" Yamato asked in what he seemed to think was a calm voice.

"That's none of your business, Digidestined," she said calmly. When she reached a prudent distance and the moon illuminated her face enough for him to take a good look at her, he realised she must be younger than he expected. He also recognised this must be who that other strange Digimon had been looking for.

"What are you doing here?" he asked her, reaching for the Digi-Egg once again and securing it in his hand, though it still burned him. He knew fully well he couldn't start a fight with this Digimon, not without Garurumon to help him. But after what had happened to Hikari and Mimi, he guessed that if she had wanted to hurt him she already would have, so maybe she'd answer some of his questions.

"I'm looking for someone," she replied in a bored voice, "But fancy running into you – " she paused, looking at him with a curious expression, "Bearer of … Friendship, is it?" she asked after glancing at his hand.

His fingers tightened over the object. He decided not to mention that they had run into her sister, not just yet. "What's it to you?"

"Oh, nothing much," she replied, "I'm not here to fight you, Ishida Yamato." She smiled, and the second he saw that, he knew he wouldn't be happy about it. "But you … you're here to fight _everyone_, aren't you?"

Yamato frowned, his heart skipping a beat as she looked at him so placidly, almost as if she knew her comment had hit home. He arched an eyebrow. He was way past being surprised at Digimon knowing who they were, and what they were doing there. More often than not, this was the case. What _did_ surprise him was how curious she seemed to be that he held the crest of Friendship, and he didn't like what her words so subtly implied.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked in cold, controlled anger.

"I'll let you figure that one on your own, Digidestined."

She turned away from him, and within moments was gone.

"_Yamato!"_

The young man in question looked back upon hearing Taichi's voice calling his name. He turned his back against the darkness into which the Digimon had disappeared, walking towards Taichi's voice, and where he could vaguely see his figure drawing closer to him.

"I'm here," he called out, raising a hand.

Taichi was running, but Sora was also running towards him, her face full of concern. Immediately, he felt guilty to have taken so long to retrieve the darned thing. Which brought his attention back to the Digi-Egg that he had held so tightly in his hand. It had cooled down considerably, but it was only now that he became aware of the acute burning and pain in his right hand.

Sora reached him just as he retrieved the object with his left hand, his breath hitched as his skin clung to it mercilessly. Yamato's hand was bleeding, bits of skin tearing off and exposing his pulsing pink flesh. He opened his hand wide, wincing as the air stung him, but knowing that if he closed his fist he'd feel a lot worse.

"Yama…" Sora murmured quietly, her eyes shining with tears.

"I'm fine," he said through gritted teeth, "Don't worry about it."

"Get that cleaned," Taichi told him, frowning as he stared at the grotesque shape of Yamato's hand. "We're leaving this place, it's too dangerous."

"No."

It was the first time Jyou had spoken openly and directly at Taichi since the day Hikari and Mimi got hurt, and everyone turned to look between the two of them.

"Excuse me?" Taichi asked in a low, dangerous voice. "I said, we're _leaving_."

"We heard what you said," Jyou said in a voice that was not calm but vaguely controlled, as if he were on the brink of losing it, "But our Digimon are tired, our friends are tired and it's too late to be wandering around this goddamn forest."

"Listen to me, you – " he had crossed the distance in two long steps, his hand reaching for Jyou's collar in one lithe movement. He'd had it with him and his insubordination, his martyr act, and his constant challenges to his authority. While it was true that Taichi was more of a default leader instead of a democratic one, he had never given his team reason not to trust his judgement; finding it being challenged so often was starting to get to his nerves.

Jyou didn't budge, but his look hardened as he looked down at Taichi. Standing only a couple of inches above him, the action itself was enough to give Taichi pause. "Just look around, Taichi. They're not fit to follow."

Taichi released Jyou roughly, his hands balling into fists. But if he had a refusal it died when Sora spoke to him in a hard voice. "Just give it a rest, Tai," she said, "It's been a long night and we all need it."

Agumon pat his leg awkwardly, trying to provide him with some comfort, but Taichi only shrugged him off. "Fine," he barked, "You stay, I'll go ahead and check if this place is safe at all."

"You won't find anyone," Yamato said evenly as Sora fussed over him with water, ointments and clean gauze. "The place is deserted."

But if Taichi heard him, he did not show it.

-x-

As they settled in for the night, Jyou ran a frustrated hand through his hair. He hadn't meant to go up against Taichi like that, but this feud was starting to wear him down. They hadn't had a proper conversation in what – a week now? Something close to that, perhaps. And every day, he failed to find a way to make it better.

"Don't beat yourself over it, Jyou," Gomamon told him. "Taichi's just being a brat."

Jyou shrugged his shoulders, looking at Gomamon with a tired smile. "Perhaps," he said, "But we chose him for a reason, Gomamon. Challenging him like that … it's not good for the group."

Gomamon looked angrily at his human partner. "Perhaps _he's_ not so good for the group."

"Gomamon," Jyou looked sharply at him. "Stop."

"Psh, Jyou, you gotta know we're not the only ones thinking about it," the Digimon retorted, crossing his paws over his chest and looking defiantly at him.

Jyou shook his head, his hands busy packing up his rucksack. "If that's true, then … I'm no better." Taichi was looking out for the group; he only wanted what was best for everyone. Jyou did too, but perhaps his methods weren't quite as good. Or perhaps he just wasn't as brave and trustworthy as Taichi was, or as smart as Koushiro, or level-headed as Yamato could sometimes be. He wasn't nearly as patient as Sora, or as kind and trusting as Hikari – he certainly wasn't as positive as Takeru, or even as understanding and open as Mimi. Jyou was … so much simpler than his friends, and so much weaker than them.

They had trusted him too much. That had been their mistake.

"That's not true!" Gomamon exclaimed. "They just don't get it, Jyou."

He held up a hand. "Be quiet, will you? We're trying to leave _without_ them noticing."

He knew how hard it was for Gomamon to keep his opinions to himself, and silently commended him for being able to do so. Jyou wanted to believe Gomamon, to agree with all he said and go back to his friends without so much unspoken baggage between them; but he couldn't. He'd heard her, during the battle. The voice that had warned him before, the one who told him not to involve his friends in this business. He'd failed then, but he wouldn't do it again. It was why he and Gomamon had followed her, sure that they'd find her this time.

He had, against his own wishes, abandoned his friends in the midst of what had become a dangerous battle, only to follow a voice and a shadow. He'd caught a glimpse of her, once or twice, but the sounds of the fighting were so distracting…

"_You can't do anything for them, Kido Jyou. They can't follow you."_

Jyou pushed his glasses further up his nose. He had a copy of the maps they had gotten with Yamato; he was thankful once again that Mimi had had the good sense to ensure they had extra copies. Other than that he had only left a brief note clipped to the tree under which they would expect him to wake up, explaining that he had left and that they shouldn't worry about him. The last part he added after some hesitance, finding himself unable to truly stomach to think they wouldn't.

"Come on Gomamon," he said quietly, heaving his rucksack upon his back. "Try to be quiet."

-x-

Yamato remained silent as Sora struggled to find the right thing to clean his wound with, but it became increasingly difficult as she kept poking him or dabbing at him with dry gauze. "Taichi's such an idiot," she kept complaining, "I mean, running off like that, in the middle of the night too … oh, sorry," she dove back into the bag. "You'd think he'd learned the lesson, but instead … he just keeps worrying all of us and … you, Yamato … you don't think he's going to get himself in trouble, do you?"

He looked caught off guard for a moment. "Taichi's an idiot," he said simply, "He just needs to cool down."

His answer didn't seem to comfort her. Sora gripped the water bottle tightly in her hand, accidentally spilling its contents on both of them. "I'm sorry," she was quick to apologise, "I'm so clumsy."

He wanted to comfort her, tell her it wasn't true, but Mimi, who had been watching the whole exchange with some disinterest, was suddenly on her feet and had approached them. Her small hand touched Sora's and she smiled; their backs were turned to him.

"Why don't you let me help with that?" she kindly asked. "You can go get Taichi."

Sora shook her head. "No, Yamato needs me."

_So does Taichi,_ Mimi thought.

"You should go find him."

"He only listens to you, Sora," she replied, inflating her good cheek in a childish way. She took the things from Sora's hands and held them to her chest. "Go ahead, I'll help Ishida-san."

The redhead held her hand to her chest, the remnants of a blush still present on her cheeks when she turned towards Yamato with a tired, resigned smile. "I'll get Taichi before he ends up doing something stupid."

Yamato had been watching them for a moment, the pain in his hand forgotten as a strange tingling began in his chest and spread to the tips of his fingers. He nodded, his mouth slightly parted as she hurried out into the darkness. Yamato blinked, suddenly aware that he didn't tell her to be careful. His azure gaze travelled from the revolting sight of his mangled hand to Mimi, who had approached him silently; her smile was almost completely gone.

"It's going to sting a little," she warned him, "So try not to cry too much."

There was a slightly evil glint in her eye – or was that just him? Her hands were smaller than Sora's, and softer, too. For all the hours of practising tennis and soccer that Sora engaged in, her body had hardened and moulded in marvellous ways, but her hands had lost the satin quality of Mimi's skin. Yamato's teeth grinded against each other as she cleaned his hand with what smelled like hydrogen peroxide, but he couldn't say that her touch wasn't gentle.

"You look worse than Jyou-senpai did. Why didn't you let it go sooner?"

Yamato's gaze softened, and he almost smiled. "I couldn't really let it go," he said quietly, but Mimi may have been pretending not to hear him. "You didn't have to stay," he continued.

The girl only shrugged as her fingers expertly dabbed a soothing ointment on his raw flesh. "Taichi needs company," she said simply, "And Sora was making a bit of a mess with you." Her fingers slowed down, and after a few seconds she was, for all intents and purposes, just holding his hand. "You don't mind that she went?"

Yamato let out a soft sigh, looking up at the sky. "Taichi's an idiot," he said naturally, "Sora will bring him back safely." He hadn't really thought much about it, but he was surprised it hadn't been Mimi running after Taichi first. He had seen how close they were, especially in the past few weeks; it had made sense at the time to assume she'd be distraught for their poor, hot-headed friend.

When he looked up he noticed Mimi had been staring curiously at his face. Having been caught, the girl blushed and shook her head, her fingers making quick work of spreading the medicine over the affected area. Instantly, he could feel his skin cooling down and being relieved of the abrasive pain that had been burning him. He twitched his fingers slowly and painfully.

"Well," she began, wiping her fingers into a piece of disposable tissue, "That's as much as I can do for you. Make sure you keep moving your fingers and keep the wounds clean; they'll heal in a pinch! At least, that's what Jyou-senpai said."

Yamato respectfully inclined his head. Mimi had been the person closest to Jyou these past few days, if that could even be said. He knew their Senpai was very protective of Tachikawa, but he hadn't been blind to the rift that seemed to have appeared between them. Even she was shut out, though she may like to pretend otherwise.

"Where _is_ Jyou?" he asked, looking around. Hikari, Koushiro and Takeru had been setting up camp as best they could with the help of their Digimon but it had been a while since he had seen their blue-haired companion.

"He's probably taking a walk," Mimi said, waving a careless hand, "He's been going off on his own for a while now; I think he can't sleep."

"Hm." _He isn't the only one._ Yamato decided not to bother Jyou tonight, but made a mental note to look for him first thing in the morning. He decided not to wait for Sora and Taichi either – the strain of the battle and his encounter with the strange Digimon-child had left him more exhausted than he had recognised and quite easily, he fell into a deep sleep.

Takeru had been observing his brother as Mimi cleaned his wounds, finding the entire exchange a strange occurrence. "Say Takeru," Hikari said, "Do you think it's strange, how your brother and Mimi act sometimes?"

The younger Ishida took a moment as he stuffed a little tin biscuit into his mouth. "Is it?" he said after swallowing, "I think they just don't know how to act around each other."

Koushiro, who had barely heard the youngest ones talking, looked up towards were Mimi and Yamato separated. He frowned. Maybe he'd missed much more than he had initially thought. "Sometimes Mimi can be a little overwhelming," he quipped, "I can see how that would make Yamato uncomfortable."

"I suppose that makes sense," Hikari conceded, but Takeru only watched them for a moment, lost in thought.

-x-

Taichi stopped walking only after a while had gone by and he could no longer hear his friends' chatter. He looked around at the derelict buildings and stone-cluttered streets, kicking a pebble in anger and frustration. He found what looked like the remains of a small house and deftly climbed the wall and up the window, finally landing himself above the roof. The place was run-down and creepy, but in Taichi's current mood, he didn't really give a damn.

He was tired, sore and hungry. And he was angry at everyone – the Digimon who attacked them, whoever it was that sent them, Jyou and Yamato and Sora – God, he was so angry at Sora. The rational part of him wanted to say that his friends were right and that they had been too tired to make the trip out of these goddamned wastelands as they were, but the irrational part of him (and he put a lot more stock into this one) told him that his friends had betrayed him by not trusting him. They chose to listen to Jyou – Jyou! He had put them in danger, not Taichi. And yet – and yet, maybe he was better fit to lead them than Taichi was.

And realising that scared him to death.

He picked up a pebble from the rubble on the roof he was on, tossing it across the empty streets to hit a broken down lamp on the other side. Taichi failed three times before he became aware that he wasn't alone. His face turned grimmer, and he refused to look directly at her.

"What are you doing here?" he all but barked.

"You've got awful aiming."

Taichi could feel his eye twitching but still refused to look at her; a last stand in a juvenile way of showing him her presence was not welcome. "Shut up, will you?"

Sora's smile faltered, but snatched a pebble from the roof and tossed it in the direction Taichi was firing. He might have pretended not to notice, but he couldn't have ignored the clear ringing sound as the stone met its mark. "Come down already, idiot," she murmured, "Your sister's worried about you."

He pressed the pebble in his hand until it hurt and then he hurled it with anger at the void. He hated when Sora did that, when she made him see how much of a child he was and it made him feel even worse about the whole damned thing. "Is Hikari okay?" he asked quietly, before Sora climbed down from the rooftop.

"You're so selfish, Taichi, leaving like that without caring about how we feel or if we're doing okay…" she shook her head. "You owe them an apology."

Taichi followed her, jumping down from the window in one lithe movement. Sora was walking ahead, her red hair a deep shade of maroon under the waning moonlight. He knew he was being selfish but she didn't know _half_ of what Taichi felt, and he rather resented that.

"And you?" he asked.

"Me? Why would I worry about you?"

Nonetheless, Taichi smiled.

-x-

Somewhere far beyond their reach, a being was observing them. The images projected in front were of the Original Eight, the Chosen Children, the _DigiDestined_ – all those grandiose titles, and what a poor impression they made. Disorganized, easily impressionable and weak – that was what the images were showing; that the Guardians of the Digital World were, despite their experience and age, nothing but frightened little children. Still … they should be good enough for what she needed.

"QueenChessmon." The voice was clear and high, and would have been pleasant if it did not sound so cold.

"My Lady," the Digimon said, stepping closer to her superior. The being itself was clouded in shadows, the light that permeated the room stopping before an endless void of darkness.

"Are you _sure_ these are the Chosen?"

"Quite sure, my Lady. They match the descriptions we were given, and so do their Digimon partners."

"You have fought them, then." It was not a question.

"We met … prematurely. I only roughed them up a little before leaving them."

"I see," the voice said again, "And what of their crests? Are they too, the Bearers?"

"Yes, my Lady. But they don't seem to have figured them out just yet," QueenChessmon replied dutifully. "Not all of them, at least."

"Good, that is … good."

There was a clink of armour but QueenChessmon remained as impassive as ever, as though waiting for a command she wasn't sure would come. "What about your other mission, QueenChessmon?"

"We have a steady supply of data, my Queen. The collect is going well."

"And you are sure these children known none of it."

"Positive." There was a glint of malice in her eye, and perhaps some satisfaction showing clearly in her voice. "We've been blocking Izumi's attempts at figuring it out. By now, the child must be nearly losing his mind."

"Rise," the voice commanded. "You have done well, my brave general. Perhaps there is yet hope for you …"

QueenChessmon bristled, but otherwise pretended not to hear her master. "Your orders, my Queen?" she asked.

"Remind the others of their missions," the voice lazily replied, "And make sure those crests are unlocked and destroyed. I will take no chances, this time."

This time, nothing would stop her from fulfilling her destiny.


End file.
